I found an old book in the
gutter today: A battered blue
hardcover unwanted by the
world. It had been kicked
about by a brutal foot - more
than a few pages were wrinkled
and torn. So I plucked it up
and carried it home. After I
wiped off some of the dirt
I saw a cover as blue as
the sea. I wiped some more
until a familiar face appeared -
the Belle Of Amherst - my breath
stood still - Emily Dickinson in
the gutter? Imagine that! Her
good poems once fed my hungry
heart, when the busy world
wouldn't throw me a bone. Now
I'd plucked her from the gutter,
and given her a better home -
so who really saved whom?
Poem © 2018 by Dylan Mitchell
"so who really saved whom?" Wow! Welcome back!
ReplyDeleteHey Mr. Roy! Thanks for the quite generous comment! Yes, I'm back: I'm actually a quite brave soul at heart :-)
ReplyDeleteP.S. The line you quoted from my poem was originally: "...so who really saved who?" However, an editor of my book informed me that I meant whom not who?
No, I meant who: I was attempting to walk in the playful footsteps of Emily, and he totally missed the point! Rather ironic, given what happened to her when she tried to publish her own words :-)
I've never figured out "whom", so I just don't use it.
ReplyDeleteWise choice. The only time I am certain is when it's: To Whom It May Concern. Too impersonal for my personality :-)
ReplyDeleteI know this matter is settled, and certainly artistically viable, but as a boy pushing 70, I still go with what Mrs. Drown taught me in 4th grade: I should use "whom" when it's the object of a preposition. That's all I know.
ReplyDeleteGeo, the funny thing about this poem is I got tons of comments about when to use who instead of whom?
ReplyDeleteI would think that anybody fond of Emily's poems would know that she often played with language.
Sadly, most people don't read poems or even know the name of Emily Dickinson.
You are the rare exception :-)