She sights a Bird — she chuckles —

by Emily Dickinson

She sights a Bird — she chuckles —
She flattens — then she crawls —
She runs without the look of feet —
Her eyes increase to Balls —

Her Jaws stir — twitching — hungry —
Her Teeth can hardly stand —
She leaps, but Robin leaped the first —
Ah, Pussy, of the Sand,

The Hopes so juicy ripening —
You almost bathed your Tongue —
When Bliss disclosed a hundred Toes —
And fled with every one —

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Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was one of the most influential and innovative American poets of the 19th century. Though she lived a reclusive life in Amherst, Massachusetts, she created a body of work that had a profound impact on American literature.

Dickinson pushed the boundaries of poetic form, rhythm, and style. She was fond of unconventional capitalization, dashes instead of traditional punctuation, and playing with the rhythms of words and lines in unexpected ways. Her poems dealt with themes of death, immortality, religion, nature, and love.

Though less than a dozen of Dickinson’s nearly 1,800 poems were published during her lifetime, she shared her work in letters with friends and family members. After her death, Dickinson’s poems were published and she began garnering acclaim. She is now considered one of the towering figures of American poetry. Her innovative style and brave exploration of deep, philosophical themes in short lyric poems inspired later poets and helped shape the course of modern poetry.