“IF YOUR NERVE DENY YOU…” (EMILY DICKINSON)

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“If your Nerve, deny you—
Go above your Nerve—
He can lean against the Grave,
If he fear to swerve—

That's a steady posture—
Never any bend
Held of those Brass arms—
Best Giant made—

If your Soul seesaw—
Lift the Flesh door—
The Poltroon wants Oxygen—
Nothing more—”

from “If your Nerve, deny you,” a poem by Emily
Dickinson

I’ve loved this poem for a long time, as macabre or other-worldly as it can come off. To me, it is a clarion call to be brave even if you’re anxious or afraid. After all, it’s just a feeling to step above. I had no intention for this work to be directly linked to this poem; the poem came to me after I finished and stepped back to look at it, and to me, it suits perfectly.

30h x 30w x 1.5d (inches); acrylic, oil pastels, charcoal on wood-backed canvas board