Emily
by Gail
chiseled minutes from the granite
of her Amherst family to read
her verses to selected bees and flowers,
to scratch out the dots and dashes
of her message, to code and store them
beneath her bed for future eyes.
Her words catch the breeze of her thought
and glide onto branches that tremble from their weight,
singing the hymns of a woman
who loved her own work enough
to do it in her own way.
