The gentle Belle of Amherst
Wrote carefully pruned poems
Like roses groomed and purely bred
To take prestigious prizes
At flower shows she never would attend.
1,800 poems carefully handwritten
And preserved in locked desk drawers
While only ten were published in her lifetime.
Poems of death and immortality,
Art and society, nature and spirituality,
After an entire life lived in secret,
She profoundly affected poetry,
And achieved immortality after all.
Catch a Falling Star 