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E and D
note
1
Emily Dickinson
A faith that’s tantamount to trees
and
ivied with Judas-blue
will
pilgrimage upon its knees
and
lick the gravel’s dew.
I
cannot count on half such strength,
with
faith unsanguined, coarse.
My
hope must measure out a length
that
pollarded doubts endorse.
note
2
Dorothy Parker
Oh
gather the heart that’s done away
with
life and death all the same.
My
pieces you may piece as you may
that
have done with the silly game.
A
rider from some romantic book
folded
my arm through his sleeve;
my
soul he took that another forsook,
and
my mind that he’ll try to deceive.
My
body frail as a cotton shroud
may
perch on a coach before him.
Let
him croon his love songs ever so loud,
the
eyes he might kiss will ignore him.
Be
he gentle as sin I will not yield,
be
his eloquence sweet of breath.
I
shall never lie in his primrose field
unless
his name be Death.
note
3
Dorothy’s
Emily-Song
Undersight
is usefuller
than
keeping a watchful eye
on
all the things folk do to you
in
your face or on the sly.
It’s
nicer to think they love you,
and
some of the time it’s true,
at
least on rainy afternoons
some
do, if they’re sad too.
What
does it matter anyway
if
affection is underplayed?
Love
can become a burden
or
reciprocally mislaid.
Alan
Marshfield
note
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