Somewhere between receiving a tuition scholarship and a sweet send off from family and friends, I gathered enough encouragement, motivation and snacks to make this once in a lifetime trek. I keep reminding myself that I can’t shrink back after-all I founded a magazine called “Empowerment.”
After looking for a place that would be deserving
of the nature of my journey to visit a land filled with brilliant writers and journalists…
I remembered that my beloved Edgar Allan Poe
Perhaps I could glean some wisdom & courage
by visiting his city.
The city of Baltimore is beautiful and filled with Poe related history. He was from a Baltimore family and lived there during much of his literary career. Both Poe’s parents were actors and died tragically before he was three years old. Poe was adopted by a wealthy Virginian. He attended the best schools and briefly served in the military before being honorably discharged.
He spent his final years in Baltimore writing poetry and living in the home of his auntie Mrs. Maria Clemm.
During the week of Poe’s mysterious death, the writer was found delirious on the streets of Baltimore. He died at age 40 in a hospital near the place where his body lies at rest.
Before hitting the road for the second leg of my trip to New Haven, I slipped out of my hotel room in the wee hours of Sunday morning to watch the sun rise over the harbor. I was exhausted from the drive but longed to spend a few moments
at the memorial of my idol.
Poe was fascinated with dreaming and
much of his poetry focused on the topic.
A Dream Within a Dream Edgar Allan Poe, 1809 – 1849
And, in parting from you now, Thus much let me avow: You are not wrong who deem That my days have been a dream; Yet if hope has flown away In a night, or in a day, In a vision, or in none, Is it therefore the less gone? All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream. I stand amid the roar Of a surf-tormented shore, And I hold within my hand Grains of the golden sand-- How few! yet how they creep Through my fingers to the deep, While I weep--while I weep! O God! can I not grasp Them with a tighter clasp? O God! can I not save One from the pitiless wave? Is all that we see or seem But a dream within a dream?
There aren’t enough writerly words to express the moment of sheer appreciation that I had for the opportunity to sit in the shadow of Edgar Allan Poe. I looked up at the sky and thought of what they call “Poe’s Baltimore” and wondered what advice he would give to an aspiring writer.
That is when I found his quote
Day 1 of my journey to Yale began with
Day dreaming courtesy of
~POE~
Antionette G. Kerr akerr@thewritefolks.net 