One need not be a Chamber—to be Haunted—

One need not be a Chamber—to be Haunted—
One need not be a House—
The Brain has Corridors—surpassing
Material Place—

Far safer, of a Midnight Meeting
External Ghost
Than its interior Confronting—
That Cooler Host.

Far safer, through an Abbey gallop,
The Stones a’chase—
Than Unarmed, one’s a’self encounter—
In lonesome Place—

Ourself behind ourself, concealed—
Should startle most—
Assassin hid in our Apartment
Be Horror’s least.

The Body—borrows a Revolver—
He bolts the Door—
O’erlooking a superior spectre—
Or More—

– Emily D(ickinson)

*******

My head hurts tonight.

P.S. I nearly named my undergraduate thesis “One Need Not Be a Chamber” (it was written on the theme of memory). My advisor kindly told me to piss off and find another title, since this one made him think about toilets.