Coolsisters of the Month

THE PEDIGREE of honey
Does not concern the bee
A clover, any time, to him
Is aristocracy
___________

A WORD is dead
When it is said
Some say,
I say it just
Begins to live
That day

The only reason you know the poetry of Emily Dickinson (and you do know the poetry of Emily Dickinson - the above just being two little gems) is because she had a sister, Lavinia. Emily instructed Lavinia to destroy all of her letters and manuscripts after her death. Lavinia carried out her sister's wish until she came across a cache of more than 1,700 poems hidden in Emily’s home, only a very few of which had been published in Emily's lifetime. While Lavinia may have betrayed her sister, we like to think Emily would have forgiven her. Sometimes a sister knows best.

That's Emily, brother Austin, and Lavinia in the portrait.