This bejeweled chair was inspired by a quote by Karl Kraus:

"One's need for loneliness is not satisfied if one sits at a table alone. There must be empty chairs as well."

I am no stranger to loneliness, so this quote has a lot of meaning for me. There are a lot of empty chairs at my table. But I am an avid reader and when I read, the most interesting people are here with me!

The quote also had me thinking about the old question "If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?" My first chair is dedicated to my first choice at the table... Emily Dickinson. Emily has written extensively about loneliness, isolation and alienation— looking at the world from a distance, peering through windows at what others seem to take for granted, a normal life. This piece is dedicated to her poem "Heart, we will forget him!"

Heart, we will forget him!

You an I, tonight!

You may forget the warmth he gave,

I will forget the light.

When you have done, pray tell me

That I my thoughts may dim;

Haste! lest while you're lagging.

I may remember him!

So, here's to "Empty Chairs" that, when occupied while I read, fill the void.