Dickinson and Davis Illustrations - Kaitlyn's Notebook

A few illustrations of “A clocked stopped—” and “I dreaded that first Robin, so”:

And some drawings by my 4-year-old brother with the last few lines of “The Old Dictionary.” Last class we discussed how unlike the other objects/beings in the story, the son has a complex inner life. I’ve been thinking about the lines “My son needs many other things besides what he needs for his physical care, and these things multiply or change constantly. They can change right in the middle of a sentence. Though I often know, I do not always know just what he needs. Even when I know, I am not always able to give it to him.”

I asked my brother to draw in my notebook because I wanted to capture this particular moment in his life—if he were younger, he wouldn’t have hesitated to scribble all over the words, and if he were older, he might not draw a crocodile family or a sun wearing sunglasses. Watching him “change constantly” makes me think about how it's not always clear when he needs something or when he feels hurt. I guess I’ve also been thinking about how college means not being able to directly see how he changes and leaving him alone.