#175 by Emily Dickinson
The mob within the heart
Police cannot suppress.
The riot given at the first
Is authorized as peace,
Not certified of scene
Or signified of sound,
But glowing like a hurricane
In a congenial ground.
Emily Dickinson’s poems were never published during her lifetime. She passed away in the year 1886. Keep that in mind here as you reread her poem #175, found in Bolts of Melody, New poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Mabel Loomis Todd and Millicent Todd Bingham , published in 1945.
This month I attempt to share with you a realization, or better yet, a crystallization of my awareness of a fundamental truth. A truth I cannot escape. I will share that truth with you in a moment.
Coming back to Emily’s poem #175, I notice her verse and key words are relevant to the current state of our affairs; mob, police,riot,certified, hurricane. Emily Dickinson saw all this from her home in Amherst in the 1860s? Of course she was living through the Civil War and the stresses of a country divided over slavery. So I can understand her written imagery in that context, maybe. However this poem could have been written over and over since especially during the 1950s, 1960s, 1990s and the darkest of ages- 2020. Has Emily’s view, metaphorically seen out her window of her Now Room in Amherst, changed in 145 years? Apparently not!
I now share another point of view taken from poet Jericho Brown’s recently published collection of poetry titled The Tradition.
Brown’s poem titled: The Water Lilies
They open in the day and close at night
They are good at appearances. They are white
I judge them, judge the study they make
Of themselves, aspirational beings, fake
If you ask me. If you ask me, I’ll say no,
Thank you, I don’t need to watch what goes
Only imagining itself seen, don’t need
To see them yawn their thin mouths and feed
On light, absolute and unmoved. They remind
Me of black people who see the movie
About slaves and exit saying they would
Have fought to whip Legree with his own whip
And walked away from the plantation,
Their eyes raised to the sun, without going blind.
Jericho Brown’s poem highlights this Now moment from his point of view. As Emily did in her Now moment over 140+ years ago, Jericho chose to artfully record it. I chose to read both their written interpretations in my Now moment.
The truth for me that I promised to share with you earlier is simply this. On a day that Now became just a memory called yesterday, I reflected and realized that all of us have one common destiny with one truth. That one truth is we all share this Now moment. Our yesterdays may be different but everyday all of humanity, in fact all creatures share this exact moment- Now! Oh I have tried to forget this truth, I have lived ignoring this truth but every time I wake up the moment is Now.
So am I alone in this Now moment? Not at all. During my self reflection recently at my metaphorical lighthouse, I asked myself five questions and somehow I received five answers.
I find myself in this room called Now. It is so large I can not see across to the other walls that I know must be here.
1st Question: “Why so large?”
1st Answer: “Because you share this Now room with me and with everyone else.”
2nd Question: “Do all of you come into this Now room using the door I used to enter?”
2nd Answer: “No, only you can enter through your door. I and everyone else have a unique door to enter this moment; billions and billions of doors.”
3rd Question: “Too many doors to count, are there any windows on the walls of this Now room?”
3rd Answer: “No windows on the walls but there are windows if you know where to look.”
4th Question: ” Well, where do I look?”
4th Answer: “As the Delphic Oracle states, Know Thyself. The windows in this room are within you. Your windows are your memories. Not just through introspection but action on good memories as Edgar Cayce’s source was alleged to have illuminated, to act, to serve, to love, to dare, if one is to know himself”.
5th Question: “I now see in today’s room of Now that my door is mine and my windows of recollection are mine. How can I begin to understand anyone else’s point of view framed by their doors I can not enter? Or see what they see out their windows if I can not look out or see through their windows?”
5th Answer: “Use your eyes, your ears, your touch to listen, to read or simply feel other points of view, and so much more. We are beings that desire to connect for good or for bad. Over the millennium of this moment we have created paper, ink, language, radio, television, computers smart phones, satellites, internet, energy of thought and on and on. to help us connect. Why Mark, you evidenced that by bringing Emily’s poem and Jericho’s poem into this moment of your Now. You also demonstrated that by listening to me.”
Conclusion: We all come into this moment with our unique singular point of view. Understanding gained through attention to details you’ve all shared is my key to growing my conscious awareness of you and our others. Positively it is easy for me to find you again in our Now. Truth lights my way. Remember though we are in a very very large room with many shadows living just beyond the light of truths. They have just as much of a right to be here. Day and Night in this moment of Now!
Thank you for joining me today.
Be safe.
Mark