NICK CARBO

ITALIAN POSTCARD 44

Emily Dickinson died again today
in a village southeast of Terni. She survived
two husbands and the death of twin baby girls
during her first marriage to a man from Norcia
named Paolino Batisti. She was known as Amelia
the quiet butcher's wife, who became the haberdasher's
wife after the butcher was taken away by the Nazis
in the second world war. Amelia's next husband
was named Giancarlo and he encouraged her to write
down images she saw as she stared blankly
at the walls. This time, her eight manuscripts
will not be found. Look, her granddaughter Anna
is shredding the poems to be used as soft bedding
for the fat white chickens in the back yard.

6/8/03 Civitella Ranieri, Umbria, Italy