358 West End Ave (Thursday Doors)

What is impossible can stil be imagined–
but what is it exactly that I am looking for?
Pots of gold at the ends of rainbows?
Not that—I want something unfamiliar to explore.

I call to the ocean, looking for moontides–
sky sails to carry me into my dreams–
Why must my thresholds be so recognizable?
I long for a portal to disrupt my routines.

I photographed this door at 358 West End Avenue awhile ago–I found it in my archives when I was looking for a door suitable for a dream poem to answer Jennifer Russo’s W3 prompt. It was not that easy to get a good photo of it because of the staircase. But it does look like it could be a portal to somewhere, doesn’t it?

A little research shows that though the exterior of 358 WEA remains much the same as originally designed by architect Clarence True in the early 1880s, the interior, after about 50 years as a single residence, was broken up into apartments. Several different times, in fact, the last renovation having been done in 1999. None of the original interior seems to have been saved, from the rental listings I looked at.

Clarence True designed many landmarked buildings on the Upper West Side and in Harlem, yet for some reason this building is not landmarked, which seems strange to me. I’m glad at least that the owners have not altered the exterior, and left the door of impossible dreams intact.

This house has the usual scandal-filled and colorful history, which you can read about (as usual) in the Daytonian, here.

My poem is a lento, which has an interesting rhyme scheme. I’m not sure mine is exactly correct (and yes, my rhymes are slanted), but I enjoyed trying to figure it out.

And for more doors, visit Thursday Doors, hosted by Dan Antion.