Hope is the thing

This morning, C was asking me about the necklace I'm wearing. It's a small silver disk with a simple sketch of a bird on one side, and on the other, "Hope is the th.ing with f.eathers that perc.hes in the soul," attributed, of course, to Emily D.ickinson.

My dear friend JK gave it to me last year, late last spring or summer, when I was feeling a little better, right before I fell into the abyss. I took it off then. I put it back on this spring or summer and, with everything that's been going on, despite everything, somehow, I've managed to keep wearing it. Maybe it's stubbornness, I don't know. My magical thinking kicks in, I think of it as kind of a talisman. Maybe. I don't know.

Here's the rest of the verse:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

Anyway, we were talking about this and C said, "Hope is the thing with feath.ers, that perches in your soul and sometimes craps on your shoulder."

I LOVE this man.