I put together this short video tonight, inspired by the Outsiders Collab and Emily Dickinson's poem, "Nobody knows this little rose." It was published anonymously in the Springfield Republican in 1858 and is in the public domain.

Emily Dickinson was a great example of an outsider in my opinion, because she never went outside. She was a recluse and spent almost her whole life in her home. She was considered a very strange woman by her community. Themes of death and solitude are prevalent throughout her poetry, and this piece is no exception. She is the rose who is so easily picked and discarded - only insignificant things like birds and bees will miss her. I think many people who are outsiders and disconnected from the larger world might identify with that sentiment. 

But my favorite part of this poem is the first two lines - "Nobody knows this little rose/ it might a pilgrim be." The tragedy of this poem is that this rose may be on a spiritual journey before it's plucked and left to die, but nobody knows. To them it's just a rose, in much the same way Emily Dickinson was just that strange woman who never left her house in the minds of her neighbors. 

I feel like this poem is appropriate for the Outsiders Collab because - to me - it's about how society so easily disregards and discards people without taking the time to understand what journey they may be on. 

Nobody knows this little Rose -

it might a pilgrim be

Did I not take it from the ways

And lift it up to thee. 

Only a Bee will miss it - 

Only a Butterfly, 

Hastening from far journey -

On its breast to lie -

Only a Bird will wonder - 

Only a Breeze will sigh -

Ah Little Rose - how easy

For such as thee to die!