AMHERST — A metal silhouette depicting the likeness of Emily Dickinson, in conversation with fellow poet Robert Frost, is missing and presumed stolen from its boulder at the Gates lot in downtown Amherst.
Part of the sculpture known as “Poetic Dialogue,” the silhouette was installed in 1996 at the corner of Main and Lessey streets. The town this week used social media to alert the public that the silhouette, made from half-inch metal, is gone.
In the Facebook post, the town asks anyone with knowledge of its whereabouts to contact police at 259-3000: “Keep your eyes peeled, be on the lookout and lets #findemily!” the town wrote.
Following the possible heist, employees with the Department of Public Works also removed the Frost silhouette, which had sustained some damage, likely from an attempt to remove that one, as well.
“Poetic Dialogue” was designed by artists Michael J. Virzi and Scot Charland. The silhouettes each sit on a separate boulder on the greenspace across from Sweetser Park and within a few hundred feet of the Emily Dickinson Museum.
There are also metal tablets resting on the boulders with inscriptions of one of their works; for Dickinson it’s “I Held a Jewel in My Fingers,” and for Frost it’s “The Road Not Taken.”
The sculpture was restored by local artist Kamil Peters, with a ceremonial unveiling in spring 2022.
Similar thefts or attempted thefts at the site have occurred in the past, such as 1998, when the Frost silhouette was removed, but found dumped nearby a few days later.
And in 2012, a rabbit sculpture placed at Kendrick Park was stolen less than a week after it was installed, though it was never recovered.
