Yet they had liberty!
Their kingdom was the sky:
They batted clouds with easy hand,
Found a mountain for their stand;
From wandering lonely they could catch
The inner magic of a heath-
A lake their palette, any tree
Their brush could be.
And still they cry to me
As in reproach-
I, born to hear their inner storm
Of separate man in woman's form,
I yet possess another kingdom, barred
To them, these three, this Emily.
I move as mother in a frame,
My arteries
Flow the immemorial way
Towards the child, the man;
And only for brief span
Am I an Emily on mountain snows
And one of these.
And so the whole that I possess
Is still much less-
They move triumphant through my head:
I am the one
Uncomforted.
In this poem, Livesay addresses the difficulty of being a woman and a poet in contemporary society. The three Emilys of the title are presumably Emily Bronte, Emily Dickinson, and Emily Carr. It is interesting to note that each of these women escaped marriage and motherhood, allowing them to pursue their artistic careers with greater ease. The speaker wishes to join the three Emilys, but due to her children and her husband, "only [a] brief span" of time can be devoted to her poetry.