Nature’s People

Emily Dickinson’s poem #986, “A narrow Fellow in the grass,”
quoted in my first blog entry this week engendered a bit of discussion as to
the erotic nature of ED’s work. Another question arose (thanks Stacey!) around
who Nature’s People might be:

Several of Nature’s People
I know, and they know me —
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality – 

This question has an obvious response if you think about the
poem literally. But it’s still been bouncing around in my head. Then I noticed
the following quote from one of Emily’s letters to Higginson on a poster I
have.

“Nature is a Haunted House—but Art—is a House that tries to
be haunted.” 

So, could Nature’s People be ghosts . . . ?

I’m traveling today, a 3 hour drive to Nevada City, CA,
a gold rush era town in the Sierra foothills. We’ll join some friends for the
holiday and their small-town July Fourth celebration, and hang out at the Yuba River.
I’ll post next from gold country.

-Sally Ashton