Andrew Solomon opened his famous Ted talk by reciting the following poem written by Emily Dickinson and for some reason it stuck with me since the first time I heard it. If you have some time, watch the full talk, you won't regret it.
I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading - treading - till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through -
And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum -
Kept beating - beating - till I thought
My mind was going numb -
And then I heard them lift a Box
And creak across my Soul
With those same Boots of Lead, again,
Then Space - began to toll,
As all the Heavens were a Bell,
And Being, but an Ear,
And I, and Silence, some strange Race,
Wrecked, solitary, here -
And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down -
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing - then -
— I felt a Funeral, in my Brain, (340) by EMILY DICKINSON
Cover Photo by Eduardo Vázquez on Unsplash