our queer elders
slanted lines
emily dickinson
“I chose this single star
From out the wide night’s numbers —
Sue — forevermore!
— e.d. circa 1858 [full poem]
emily dickinson (1830-1886), western massachusetts’ famed, reclusive, revolutionary poet, lived in her family home in amherst, a big yellow house on main street, for her entire adult life. she met susan gilbert (1830-1913) in 1850, around the same time that she was being courted by austin, emily’s brother. emily and sue’s relationship was intense and passionate; an early letter from emily to sue contains, “susie, will you indeed come home next saturday, and be my own again, and kiss me as you used to? … I hope for you so much, and feel so eager for you, feel that I cannot wait, feel that now I must have you — that the expectation once more to see your face again makes me feel hot and feverish, and my heart beats so fast.”
sue and austin married in 1856, and the two moved into the house across the way from emily’s family homestead, which emily recounted as “just wide enough for two who love.” emily and sue wrote passed poems back and forth, and sue was often the only person trusted by emily to read and edit her poetry. sue and austin’s marriage deteriorated, with austin having a fairly well-known affair with mabel loomis todd. mabel took the liberty to prepare emily’s poetry for publication after her death in 1886, and scholars think she may have deliberately altered and removed the more salacious references to sue.
the only authenticated daguerrotype of emily. photo from amherst college archives.
about the song
emily and sue. sue’s daguerrotype from harvard university.
emily only published ten poems in her lifetime; most of her success was posthumous. emily would write her poems on bits of scrap paper and handbind them into small chapbooks she called “fascicles.”
“slanted lines” is a nod to another famous dickinson poem: “tell all the truth but tell it slant,” a line that has often spoken to the queer community.
production notes
every oyster features susan goldberg on vocals and mike flanagan on piano.
susan goldberg is a provincetown-based bassist and multidisciplinary artist whose career bridges music and the visual arts. recognized for her dynamic collaborations across genres, she is also a core member of the long-running cabaret project scream along with billy, while continuing to contribute to a wide range of creative work in provincetown’s vibrant arts scene.
mike flanagan is a provincetown-based saxophonist, pianist, composer, and billboard-charting recording artist whose work has earned international recognition including a lennon award and two outmusic awards. in addition to releasing acclaimed original music, he serves as entertainment director for the post office café & cabaret and tin pan alley, curating and performing shows that have become cornerstones of provincetown’s live music scene.
@mikemrf | mikemrf.com
susan goldberg: vocals
mike flanagan: piano
katie castagno: vocals
erin mckeown: acoustic guitar, drums
jon evans: bass
produced by erin mckeown
engineered & mixed by jon evans
mastered by dave chalfant
slanted lines
I think I must be the ghost of main street
I’m out here with lanterns, dressed in all white, looking for myself
I keep finding my mind and body
always on the path just wide enough for two who love
and sue, it’s you--my brother doesn’t seem to mind
sue, it’s you, sue, it’s you
sue, it’s you, it’s you
so I pass through the hole in the hedgerow
with these little poems folded tight to my breast
in the hopes that your hands will find them
and hold me carefully through wild nights and what's left
and sue it’s you--your husband doesn’t seem to mind
sue, it’s you, sue, it’s you
sue, it’s you, it’s you
and my scrap paper fascicles were handbound just for you
regardless of what mabel finds and the edits she may choose
be infinity, and what you have ever been
my eternity
and sue it’s you--austin doesn’t seem to mind
sue, it’s you, sue, it’s you
sue, it’s you, it’s you
I’ll write the truth on slanted lines
k.a.castagno 2023
recommended reading
open me carefully: emily dickinson's intimate letters to susan huntington dickinson. edited by ellen louise hart and martha nell smith. published 1998.
emily dickinson’s electric love letters to susan gilbert by maria popova. published 2018.
—also see figuring by maria popova, published 2020.
just wide enough for two by kacey m. martin, a novel exploring emily and sue’s romance. published 2022.
unpublished letters of emily dickinson, chosen and arranged by her niece by martha dickinson bianchi. published in the altantic in 1915.