Emily wrote and wrote and wrote. She wrote about what she knew. And she wrote with great familiarity about the unknowable, perhaps better than anyone had written about it before. She became, in her very being, the purest expression of poetry for those of us mortals who can't exactly say what poetry is, but recognize it when we see it and hear it. Emily wrote about subjects in a way that no one had ever done, and this originality of thought is one of her greatest contributions.

PAIN HAS AN ELEMENT OF BLANK;
IT CANNOT RECOLLECT
WHEN IT BEGAN, OR IF THERE WERE
A DAY WHEN IT WAS NOT.

IT HAS NO FUTURE BUT ITSELF,
ITS INFINITE REALMS CONTAIN
ITS PAST, ENLIGHTENED TO PERCEIVE
NEW PERIODS OF PAIN.