Enigma (Thursday Doors)

“And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.”
Stephen Chbosky (b. 1970), The Perks of Being a Wallflower

We had nowhere to go
and so we constructed a doorway

Before us, the entire world
scaffolded by our dreams

A mirror that reflected the sun
opening each new morning

A shadowed hush glowing
inside of every afternoon

And what of now?
Should we open the door?

But look at what grows around it,
because of it—the mystery

that fills what is possible
with the metamorphosis of light

I first noticed this rooftop doorway last March–I don’t know how long it’s been there, but that’s the first photograph I took of it on the top left. The photo on the right was taken this week. I kept watching it–was it a doorway? Or perhaps a trellis, waiting for some vines?

I continued watching it, and taking more photos. A chimney? But there’s a hole in the center, through which you can see the greenery behind. I enjoyed the way the light shone through and made shadows in the afternoon. Perhaps there are benches on the other side. It has many possibilities.

And there are many kinds of doorways.

This week I finally decided I needed to walk to the next block and photograph the brownstone the rooftop belonged to. It’s the one on the left, above. But I had to include the one beside it because of the vines gone wild, and the interesting stairway up to the front door. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one like that before.

Above are the doors to the brownstone on the left, the one with the mystery rooftop door. It was built in the late 1800s, designed by William Baker, and seems to be a private home.

It was hard to get a good photo of the front door on the house with the vines, but I really like the downstairs door ironwork, and the way the door is tucked between the two staircases. This house was built at the same time, but designed by the architecture firm of Rossiter and Wright. It’s a three unit co-op.

My poem was written for this week’s W3 prompt, where Deepthy provided the quote at the top as inspiration. Perfect for a mysterious rooftop door.

And, as always, look for more doors at Thursday Doors, hosted by Dan Antion.