i was in the bargain books section
of a Barnes & Noble

i grabbed a copy of
the Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson

i began to scan the lines
and one line
jumped out at me -
"My river runs to thee."

it had an impact
i liked it
but i really didn't know
what it meant

i just know
i liked it

i began to
reel off possible meanings

maybe the line referred to
an outpouring of love
that flowed to another

or maybe "river"
was a metaphor for
the course of the poet's life
one that flowed,
or was directed toward
a beloved

or maybe this poem
was about obsession
a kind of channeling of a person's being
in one direction
and one direction only

then again, i thought,
maybe line was about
all the above possibilities
and more

maybe it is the case that
the pleasure of this poem
or any poem
comes not from knowing
what it means,
but from pondering
what it could mean
all the time
remaining open
to the possibilities

maybe this principle
of openness to possibility
applies to more
than just poems