About Emily..... Poem by RIC BASTASA

Emily is beautiful.
it is not her dress,
never, it is not her
eyes
either, not even her
gnarled hands,
her body is bent,
is it not definitely
the source of her
beauty that we admire
for years
and centuries, even when

she was gone,
oh, i tell you

it was her decency
her propriety throughout
her life,

oh, she was in pain
in all those restraints,

her cleanliness of
spirit...
yes, definitely,
definitely...