Emily

Emily Dickinson 1846/7
from a daguerreotype
held by Amherst College Archives, Massachusetts

Oh Emily,
you could not step outside your crinoline
to see the world as from beyond
and so you dived into your soul's deep space,
your life girt round, circleted with
domestic chores, parochial joys
and hopes soon dashed of finding more,
the final beauty of your life to teach
your friends with generosity
to live more fully in the present time,
to see with faith and feel with care
the narrow pains of all our loves that stretch
our vistas wide preparing us for truth
                                            beyond this life.

©Janet Henderson April 2017

Inspired by the American poet, Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886