“I never hear the word ‘escape'”
Why this poem? An answer by artist Elizabeth Terhune:
Like many people, I respond to Dickinson’s incredible compression, her inventiveness. In this case, I particularly liked how the poem opens up at the end (by quieting down a bit?). Also, her wildly fun sense of image and language. “A quicker blood.” “A flying attitude.” The poem has a resonant interiority to it, but she keeps playful. It is both intensely personal-her vulnerability is felt-but also, with the reference to “prisons broad,” connects to circumstances beyond herself. It’s a wonderful poem to have in one’s head.