I've been thinking a lot about Virginia Woolf's "
A Room of One's own." Yes, I realize that Virginia and her writing have nothing to do with poetry, but making a space 'your own' decidedly does.
My own "room" is about the size of a postage stamp. It is a functioning office for household management, a small business, and my career as a tutor, which makes me an independent contractor with its attendant paperwork. It also acts as nexus for my writing, and of course, this
vital and terribly significant Blog, (averaging 150 hits a day!).
It may seem that squeezing that massive amount of function into such a tiny room would leave little space for comfort and warmth.
But
Au contraire, mon ami. (That's French for
nu uh)
When you're a bibliophile, my friends, decorating is not really that difficult. Book cases - bulging, surprise laden book cases - make any room.
"Still," I hear you saying, "Not. poetry."
We'll get there. I promise. But 'till then, stay close folks. Oh, and make a left here.
The anthologies on my shelves pay tribute to my days at university. (English teacher, here) They include the usual basic literary cannon fodder (see what I did there!?) but because of a wonderfully progressive and diverse faculty, my collection goes
way beyond the basic OWM (old white men).
The jewel like seeds from my anthologies have, with the help of online used book "stores," germinated into fruit that spills abundantly from myriad countries, cultures, and times into all the rooms of my tiny home.
I've obviously found a way to survive the drought caused by the closing of our town's last book store.
OK. Here's the path again to your right.
My love of poetry has helped my collection to quietly overtake my office. One by one, authors slip out of tight fitting and restrictive anthologies to make themselves comfortable on the poetry book shelves. Greeting earlier arrivals and fitting in easily, they stake out their new territory.
And when I sit back in my reading chair in this sunny little room, I find myself surrounded by friends. Their easily accessible words comfort, admonish, amuse, and educate. They also help to make this space truly my own, a space to retreat, rewind, refill, and renew.
A room of my own.
My favorite wall decor? Book cases, overflowing and interspersed with treasured keepsakes gathered through the years.
Is there a poem that celebrates this love of books? Don't be silly. There's a poem for just about any occasion you could want.
Once again, Miss Emily Dickinson obliges us with a verse that captures the thought.
There is no frigate like a book
- Emily Dickinson
There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away,
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry –
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll –
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears a Human soul.
A little library, growing larger every year, is an honorable part of a
man's history. It is a man's duty to have books. A library is not a
luxury, but one of the necessaries of life.
-
Henry Ward Beecher
