Emily Dickinson's "I Dwell in Possibility"

Emily Dickinson’s poem “I Dwell in Possibility: can be considered a meta-poem, because it is a poem about poetry. The main idea behind this poem is that there are innumerable possibilities when writing poetry, and though it may seem to be contradictory, poetry is not as confining as prose. Dickinson proves that anything is possible by her usage of numerous dashes throughout the poem, using the dashes as connectors to emphasize parts of her poem as well as using them as an indication of her rambling thoughts.
She describes Possibility as a House which has more windows than the House of Prose, and more doors. Both windows and doors open to the outside world, a place that has no limits and no confinement. Anything is possible, as Dickinson accentuates with her use of dashes as opposed to other grammatical choices such as periods or commas. The final stanza describes how “Visitors,” whether they are readers of poetry or somebody who is just experimenting with poetry, should view Possibility as the fairest. Dickinson herself has the job of “gathering Paradise,” of writing poetry using the limitless bounds of Possibility.
Dickinson breaks the boundaries of poetry with her use of dashes, and in some locations, especially in the last line almost uses them in places of ellipses to demonstrate unfinished thoughts. With the dashes, the reader naturally pauses at these breaks in the poem, and is also given the opportunity to interject their own thoughts subconsciously into the poem.