Original: In one of Emily Dickinson's poems Mother Nature, Nature ". . .sweeps with many colored brooms, and leaves the shreds behind. . ." In many works of fiction, especially fairy tales, broomsticks are depicted as a means of air transport for witches, with the brush usually facing the posterior direction.
Simplified: In many works of fiction, broomsticks are pictured as a means of air transport for witches.