Fragments of Materials, Fragments of Time

“‘Preserve the backs of old letters to write upon,’” wrote Lydia Maria Child in The Frugal Housewife, a book Dickinson’s father obtained for her mother when Emily was born. It opens: “‘The true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of gathering up all the fragments, so that nothing be lost. I mean fragments of time as well as materials.’”

The Gorgeous Nothings: Emily Dickinson’s Envelope Poems, edited by Jen Bervin and Marta Werner, reproduces poems that are composed with the thrift and economy advised by Child, on repurposed envelopes, cut and flattened into unique shapes. In an introduction to a portfolio published in Poetry, Bervin explores the connection between the unique parameters of these poems and the content of these works: “When Dickinson approached her compositional space to write, she was reading and responding to her materials, angling the page to write in concert with the light rule and laid lines in the paper, using internal surface divisions, such as overlapping planes of paper, to compose in a number of directional fields. Sometimes Dickinson’s writing fills the space of the envelope like water in a vessel or funnels into the triangular shape of the flap.” Continue reading Bervin's introduction and view Dickinson’s envelope poems here.

Listen to the editors of Poetry discuss Emily Dickinson’s envelope poems with the editors of The Gorgeous Nothings, Jen Bervin and Marta Werner.

Assignment: Gather fragments of paper products that you have in your home. You can use envelopes (new or used), wrappers, cardboard boxes, the middle of a paper towel roll, paper packaging, etc. Try to gather 3-5 different paper products. If necessary, take the product apart until it is one flat sheet. Strange shapes are encouraged.

Throughout the day, write a series of poems, one poem to one paper fragment. Take the perimeters, shapes, and boundaries of the fragments into account when composing your poems. Write whatever comes to mind, directly onto the fragment. Do not take more than 5 minutes for any individual poem.

Questions to consider, in writing or with others:

• Describe the experience of writing by hand. Was it different than composing on a computer or phone? Do you notice any change in what you wrote, or how you wrote it?
• How did the parameters of the paper materials influence what you wrote, or how you wrote it?
• What was your experience composing for only fragments of time throughout the day? What does this allow? What are the challenges? How can you extend the productive aspects of this approach to your existent creative practices?