Emily, Emily, called back,
But not set free,
By those who worship
and study thee!
Summers see the young ones
Gather on your lonely grave.
Kissing with immortal tongues,
To desire they are slaves;
But you forgive them blithely,
tell them to proceed,
In your name and memory,
The one thing you knew not was greed.
-Sharon Talbot
This is a strange paean to Emily Dickinson, near whose grave I lived in Amherst, MA. Teenagers hung out there and drank beer. My best friend and her boyfriend made love on poor Emily's grave! I didn't believe their story of "honoring" her thus! Note: I used "called back" in one line, as this written on her gravestone.
