Two Poetry Fridays: "Because I could not stop for Death" and "Detail of the Woods"

I love this first poem because it reminds me of my current novel-in-progress. I love the second poem because I just went for a run through autumn woods and wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment that everyone should have a place, and it shouldn't be within someone else.

"Because I could not Stop for Death" 
by Emily Dickinson
(try singing it to the tune of Amazing Grace. Cool, right?)

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.


"Detail of the Woods"
by Richard Siken

I looked at all the trees and didn't know what to do.

A box made out of leaves. What else was in the woods? 

A heart, closing. Nevertheless. Everyone needs a place. It shouldn't be inside of someone else. 

I kept my mind on the moon. Cold moon, long nights moon. 

From the landscape: a sense of scale. 

From the dead: a sense of scale. 

I turned my back on the story. A sense of superiority. 

Everything casts a shadow. 

Your body told me in a dream it's never been afraid of anything.