Cemetery Shaming

You'd think the cemetery that was the eternal home to one of the greatest poets in American history would be better taken care of.

I was heading toward Amherst the week before Thanksgiving and decided to do a quick check to see if there were any cemeteries there that I ought to visit.  To my surprise I saw that Emily Dickinson is buried in Amherst's West Cemetery.  Even if it didn't appear that there were many colonial or Revolutionary graves there, I still had to stop in to see Dickinson.

Despite being on the National Register of Historic Places, West Cemetery is disappointing.  It could be a really great cemetery to visit--it's ever so slightly hilly, with a few nice trees scattered around, and clear paths for driving.  Whoever manages the cemetery can't be blamed for the fact that the ground is uneven and pocked with small holes that make walking a bit treacherous.  But there are many broken, fallen, or precariously leaning stones, which I'm willing to attribute to the soil itself; but I can find little excuse for the trash--not just litter, but bags of trash and what appear to be pieces of clothing--left around the grounds.

There are many Dickinson graves there, but the important one is easy to find (that's it, second from left above).  Emily and her family are fenced off by what would be a nice iron fence, provided by distant relatives, but for two things: one, that the fence is only a few inches from the carved face of the tombstones, and therefore two, that the fence passes right over where the Dickinsons are actually buried.

As you might expect at a famous poet's grave, people have left little tokens for Dickinson.  There are small rocks piled on top of her headstone, along with pens and a necklace or bracelet; that all makes a fair amount of sense.  The framed picture of John Lennon and the gray Converse high-tops make a little less sense to me, but then again, the cemetery is within walking distance of the UMass campus, and you know what English majors are like.

The most exciting part of visiting West Cemetery came as I was getting back in the car and saw a skunk trundling around.  I've seen cats and squirrels and chipmunks in cemeteries before, but this was a first for skunks.  So my verdict is go see Emily Dickinson if you like, but don't expect too much, and watch out for the wildlife.

On a practical note, Google seems to believe that the cemetery is at 586 S. Pleasant St.  It isn't.  That appears to be someone's house.  I used the entrance on Triangle St., but it might also be possible to enter from N. Pleasant.