Newel

NEWEL

noun
A central pillar around which a staircase spirals.
A sturdy pillar at the top or bottom of a flight of stairs, supporting the handrail.



You were the newel
Around which I circled
Mindful of my prey,
Very little of the rest,
Never noting how much I sunk
In your or everyone else's esteem
So lost was I
In my vortex of obsession.


Walt Kuhn appears courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution.