Friday, January 02, 2015

I Dwell in Possibility


By Emily Dickinson:

I dwell in Possibility –
A fairer House than Prose –
More numerous of Windows –
Superior – for Doors –


Of Chambers as the Cedars –
Impregnable of eye –
And for an everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky –


Of Visitors – the fairest –
For Occupation – This –
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise –




My reading of that poem today is not the standard one.  Still, one wall against despondency, defeat and depression is to dwell in possibility.  Maybe it is not a wall but another secret exit door that leads into something different, a door which will not be locked in either direction.  From reality to possibility and then back.  To a better reality?  Let us hope so.