We talked as Girls do –
Fond, and late –
We speculated fair, on every subject, but the Grave –
Of our’s, none affair –
We handled Destinies, as cool –
As we – Disposers – be –
And God, a Quiet Party
to our authority –
But fondest, dwelt opon Ourself
As we eventual – be –
When Girls, to Women, softly raised
We – occupy – Degree –
We parted with a contract
To cherish, and to write
But Heaven made both, impossible
Before another night.
This statement was originally released on June 3rd 2020:
Today, in our distress over recent devastating events, we stand with our community and with the Black Lives Matter movement against racial injustice and inequality. We recognize that real change is necessary both in our country and in our museum.
We believe that museums are not neutral: they should be part of public conversations on contemporary issues such as racism, injustice, and oppression. Museums have long been institutions that hold and reflect cultural values and collective memory. Now, they have an even greater responsibility to be active participants in challenging age-old and contemporary systems of oppression.
Like other museums, the Emily Dickinson Museum has a duty to examine the history it teaches and to expand the stories it tells. Emily Dickinson lived through a catastrophic Civil War rooted in racial injustice and oppression. Her family was part of a society that benefited from the labor of immigrants, African Americans, and Native Americans in service to a privileged White majority. The poet’s literary work was made possible by the labor of these domestic servants. The Emily Dickinson Museum strives to tell this full story. Our new interpretive plan will place greater emphasis on the perspectives of Irish, Native American, and free Black workers in the Dickinson households, making plain issues of race and class in Dickinson family daily life.
At the Emily Dickinson Museum we recognize that this interpretive work is but one step in the greater effort to increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and access for audiences, staff, and leadership in institutions like ours. Dickinson’s revolutionary poetic voice became an agent of change, both in the literary canon and in the lives of individuals who find depths of meaning in her account of our human condition. As an institution, we are committed to the continuous work of change that museums can and should be doing to build an equitable society.
Postcard verso:
Here’s an original watercolor I made
inspired by Emily Dickinson. Lately my
favorite poem of hers is this:
~ a SERVICE OF SONG ~
Some keep the Sabbath going to church;
I keep it staying at home,
With a bobolink for a chorister,
And an orchard for a dome.
Some keep the Sabbath in surplice;
I just wear my wings,
And instead of tolling the bell for church,
Our little sexton sings.
God preaches, – a noted clergyman, –
And the sermon is never long;
So instead of getting to heaven at last
I’m going all along!
————————-
It reminds of a childhood favorite author of
mine, Ethel Cook Eliot, also from Western
Massachusetts who wrote about spirituality
in nature (in fairy-tales for kids.)
Postcard verso:
Dear Emily, I am the World .. writing
back to you. We are one .. I’m glad you
got to see .. the beauty in simplicity.
Nature gifted you with faith .. you are the
Majesty. Committment is a Message.
Gods hands have held you dearly …
as you hugged yourself .. you are her.
You are the Love. Judgement does
not define your heart. Countrymen see
you in the sky: you are the news that
nature told. Simply healing your spirit,
<3 Jessica Gershon
Postcard verso, page left:
Dear Emily —
Due to a postal strike here in
Finland, I’ve not been able to
send this, so it’s probably going
to be late … but thank you —
kiitos! for your beautiful words
and inspiration, which continue
to bring joy and comfort to
me and many others around
the world.
With admiration,
Luida Jainsén (first name? last name?)
Postcard verso, page right:
12/5/19
Postcard verso:
Nov. 19, 2019
Thank you Emily for keeping us good
company from the eternity…
I visited the Museum in 2015 and I
loved it and Amherst, too —
Impossibility, like Wine
Exhilarates the Man
Who tastes it; Possibility
Is flavorless — Combine
A Chance’s faintest tincture
And in the former Dram
Enchantment makes ingredient
As certainly as Doom.
Ciao !!! from Italia and the land of
vineyards and wines.
Francesca Toppino (last name?)
<3 AMORE
Postcard verso, page left:
Nov. 6 2019
Dear Emily —
When I visited
the Etruscan Tombs
last year, I gazed at
the 2500+ years old
cemeteries and thought of
your words:
“Land, ho! Eternity!
Ashore at last!”
With love —
Terri Elders
Postcard verso, page right:
#Postcards To Emily
Postcard verso:
We are a godson & godmother
Team. Rai is 11 years old
and discovered Emily work
when his mom home schooled
him. He loves the poem
“the moon is but a chin
of gold. I became enamored
with Emily in the 4th grade.
We are wishing Emily a very
Happy Birthday!
Rai-ben & Susane Pedo (first name? last name?)
Postcard verso:
Emily,
Here sits a kindred spirit,
100 years away,
3000 miles between our worlds
And yet by Destiny —
I found your words, Compassion breathes —
New life into this soul
Now as you rest with Angels
Your Little Birds still sing!
R.M.
P.S. WISH YOU WERE HERE!
GO RAIBH MAITH AGAT = THANK YOU iN IRiSH!
Postcard verso:
The morning dew
and
The wild grass
You are the romantic morning dew
and I am the wild grass
every morning I wake up with a
crown on my head
a beautiful crystal drop!
You risk your life to be with me
because we both know —
the sun will kill you…
∼ NI made Rimawati – Stach (last name?)
Emily, you inspired me to be a poet <3