When we were engaged, my husband bought a book of Emily Dickinson’s poems. Now, if you know my husband, you know he’s not so much a poetry reader. This was a pure act of love for me, his bride-to-be, who was (and still is) an avid poetry reader.
I tell him about sonnets.
He tells me about mechanical workings, string theory, economics, and how to get from Point A to Point B.
We learn things from each other like that. It’s a nice argument for bringing back the bartering system.
So, SuperMan, here’s my trade for the day: a little poem Ms. Dickinson wrote. You are the atom I prefer.
Of all the souls that stand create
Of all the souls that stand create
I have elected one.
When sense from spirit files away,
And subterfuge is done;
When that which is and that which was
Apart, intrinsic, stand,
And this brief tragedy of flesh
Is shifted like a sand;
When figures show their royal front
And mists are carved away,—
Behold the atom I preferred
To all the lists of clay!
–
Sources
1. Emily Dickinson’s poem “Of All the Souls That Stand Create” taken from this website.
Images
1. “fresh love” from viZZZual.com on Flickr.