Theme: I never thought of conceiving that I could ever have the slightest approach to such a want in all future time.*
Interpellations: I.
I never thought.
I never
thought
naught.
I never
ever
thought
naught
or ought
of naught.
I never fought –
though I vent,
though I
vie
with thine
at nine
in a tent.
And though I
vie
with thine
at nine,
I’ve thought
on a vine,
I’ve taught
on a vine,
I’ve thought
and taught
and fought
on a vine –
on a taut
vine,
on a vine
with thine
at nine
in a tent.
II.
Conceive that I could.
Conceive
that I
could thieve
thee,
could thieve
thee
of thigh
and knee.
Conceive
and sigh
that I
could thieve
thee.
Conceive
and sigh
that I
vie
with thee, that I
vie
with thee and thine,
caught
in a sign,
sought
and caught
in a sign,
in a sign
of thee and of thine.
III.
The slightest approach
I have at night
in the tightest
coach
is as taut
as it’s tight,
as taut
and tight
as it’s slight.
This onslaught
of insights
is right
by rights
that, though poached,
are unimpeached
and nigh
uncoached.
They cry.
They cry
and sigh
on the sly.
Aye,
they are wry.
IV.
To want such
is to touch.
To want such
and to have such
is to touch
such –
to touch
such
in a hutch –
aye, to want
and to have
such is to taunt
such, not to salve
such in a thatched
hut,
but to thieve
what was snatched
as such from within
when it was shut.
And to thieve
what’s within
is to sin –
not to win.
V.
All future time
will suture
in rhyme
whatever
was signed
of all that was ever
or never
mined
of each wall,
of each mall,
of each mine.
All
that’s seen
of me, all that’s mean
of me, all that’s seen
and mean
of me
and of thee –
all will be reached,
whether teached
or unteached
(whether taught
or untaught,
I mean).
The future, you see,
is mine.
The future is thine.
But mine
is not of thee
and thine
is not of me.
The future, as such,
doesn’t seem
like much
to a team –
to
a team
of two.
But the future
of mine
is fine
to me,
as fine
as your future
is fine
to thee.
The future
is fine,
you see.
Theme: I never thought of conceiving that I could ever have the slightest approach to such a want in all future time.
*Emily Dickinson, from a letter to Higginson, in reply to his inquiry as to whether the poet might consider expanding her somewhat limited sphere of action and influence, confined as it was to her room in Amherst.