The Secret We Share

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