Day 517: A Certain Slant of Light

 

Yes, these days are gloomy and dark and oppressive, as Emily Dickinson puts it. All the more reason to look forward to the Solstice and Christmas!


There's a certain slant of light - Emily Dickinson
 
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.