That she had frequent fantasies of death, no reader could deny. Survivors of sexual assault often experience suicidal ideation, unspeakable pain, guilt, shame, self-loathing, grief, depression, feelings of impurity, and ongoing fear. All these permeate Emily’s oeuvre. So many of her poems are imbued with shame, guilt, secrecy, drea…
There’s too much tragedy in the world to create more for the sake of sexiness. There’s plenty of sadness in the air to wear it like perfume. There’s too much trouble in me already to cultivate more for the sake of an imaginary ideal meant to keep me simple.