On, In, and Around Mondays: Waiting for Anne O'Sullivan

Closed.

The house, yellow with green shutters. The porch, in sun and shadow. The spirit of Emily, somewhere. I had hoped to see the inside, to touch the walls and feel the floors under my feet.

"Is there a tour?" asks a slight, warm woman in a white shirt. She's peering through the screen door; she's hoping too.

"It's closed," I say.

And we are both disappointed.

Until Anne O'Sullivan begins to speak.

I discover she is an actress who has played The Belle of Amherst. I discover the spirit of Emily Dickinson, as felt in the body and mind of this here-and-now woman.




We talk for a long time, and I find an Emily I never would have otherwise found. I find, too, that the Emily I came to see is buried somewhere nearby.




I would not have known about the cemetery, but for Anne O'Sullivan. Nor would I have known that the nearby Amherst College had one of only two replicas of the latest possible daguerreotypes of Dickinson.




Closed is a hard thing. We think we've missed what we came for. But sometimes it is exactly what is needed as we wait, unawares, for Anne O'Sullivan.



On, In and Around Mondays (which partly means you can post any day and still add a link) is an invitation to write from where you are. Tell us what is on, in, around (over, under, near, by...) you. Feel free to write any which way... compose a tight poem or just ramble for a few paragraphs. But we should feel a sense of place. Would you like to try? Write something 'in place' and add your link below.

If you could kindly link back here when you post, it will create a central meeting place. :)



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This post is also shared with Laura Boggess, for...