THEY TAKE THE LETTERS

They take the letters that he wrote

And offer them for sale.

Significant of what they quote,

The words disclose a tale.

The letters sell, the auctions tell,

The buyers swiftly give.

No shame can haunt the poet's dell,

The poet doesn't live.

And moralizing can't avail,

Nor sentiment deceive.

These words outlived a heart's travail

And now seem make-believe.

Yet when the letters have been sold,

And nothing's left to tell,

Will thoughts arise on dreams of gold -

"Let's sell his bones as well"?