I heard a Fly buzz
by Emily Dickinson
I heard a Fly buzz – when I died – The Stillness in the Room Was like the Stillness in the Air – Between the Heaves of Storm – The Eyes around – had wrung them dry – And Breaths were gathering firm For that last Onset – when the King Be witnessed – in the Room – I willed my Keepsakes – Signed away What portions of me be Assignable – and then it was There interposed a Fly – With Blue – uncertain stumbling Buzz – Between the light – and me – And then the Windows failed – and then I could not see to see – I came across this quoted in "The Moth Diaries". The school girl Dora who died falling from the roof had been writing a novel, a dialogue between Nietzsche and Brahms. Emily is also a favourite of Camille Paglia and Dora would have understood Emily. Was it Nietzsche or Dora that said, "Better to believe in the void than to believe in nothing" ?