One need not be a Chamber—to be Haunted— by Emily Dickinson
I recently read Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. She started off many chapters with excerpts from poems, which always makes me happy!
One need not be a Chamber—to be Haunted—
By Emily Dickinson
One need not be a Chamber—to be Haunted—
One need not be a House—
The Brain has Corridors—surpassing
Material Place—
Far safer, of a Midnight Meeting
External Ghost
Than its interior Confronting—
That Cooler Host.
Far safer, through an Abbey gallop,
The Stones a’chase—
Than Unarmed, one’s a’self encounter—
In lonesome Place—
Ourself behind ourself, concealed—
Should startle most—
Assassin hid in our Apartment
Be Horror’s least.
The Body—borrows a Revolver—
He bolts the Door—
O’erlooking a superior spectre—
Or More—
