Thoroughly Modern Emily

You answered the phone
and it was Emily Dickinson.
“I’m stuck in Beirut

and the bloody Israelis
are bombing the hell
out the city, “ she says,

and, almost out of breath,
she continues, “ the bastards
flew overhead right now,

there is no discrimination
as to where they drop
their bombs laden with Dead Sea Scrolls

which unroll as
they fall out of the sky
like the fly I just heard buzz by my head!”

Then there was silence
at the other end
and she has not called back.