Thanks for the world of Memory! Thanks for that little door That I can open and shut at will, And hear the voices that tenderly, Come in and talk to me as of yore, And feel they are with me still.
Anna M. Johnson's "Memory" is a short poem of thanks. The speaker is grateful for memory itself, which she pictures as "a little door" she can open and shut whenever she likes. That image does a lot of work in very few words. A door suggests a private space, something small and personal, and the fact that she controls it "at will" gives her a quiet sense of power over her own grief or longing.
What lies behind the door is the best part: voices that "tenderly" come in and talk to her "as of yore," meaning as they did long ago. The poem never says who these people are, though the wording suggests loved ones who are no longer around. The final line, "they are with me still," carries the emotional weight. The mood is gentle and consoling, with no bitterness. Loss is present only in the background, softened by gratitude that the past can still be visited.