I would have drowned twice to save you sinking, dear. - Emily Dickinson

"There's a certain slant of light"

There's a certain slant of light,
On winter afternoons,
That oppresses, like the weight
Of cathedral tunes.

Heavenly hurt it gives us;
We can find no scar,
But internal difference
Where the meanings are.

None may teach it anything,
'Tis the seal, despair,-
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the air.

When it comes, the landscape listens,
Shadows hold their breath;
When it goes, 't is like the distance
On the look of death.

The past is not a package one can lay away.

Surgeons must be very careful When they take the knife! Underneath their fine incisions Stirs the culprit,—Life!