Moonless night. A shroud,
a speckled enclosure. Opening
to that other place. That place
where walls don’t stay put,
all roads lead elsewhere, or
elsewhen. All your abandoned
selves appear and disappear
like wraiths, like ghosts.
Dead parents and siblings
walk into familiar rooms wearing
unfamiliar faces, carrying new
weapons. They do not know you.
You turn to the sound of a train
whistle, the rumble of wheels
on tracks. A woodpecker’s hammer
pulls you from sleep.
You catch sight of yourself
in a mirror, your eyes
surrounded by color and symbols,
tattoos whose meaning
you can’t quite grasp. Is this
beauty or play? Or something
darker, sinister? You remember
you were once a sister,
you look down at your dark
habit, feel its rough weight.
It rains again. The city’s streets
shine. Where are you going?
Your cat is crying. You feel
his paw on your cheek. Is he
in this world, or the other?
You are in the eye of the hurricane,
music spins around you, you have never
heard sounds like this, they carry
you across the landscape, they
pull the landscape with you.
Life is a deadly game
and you are losing.
This night wraps itself
around all your days.
Every lamp is lit but still
the darkness intrudes.
Close the shutters, lock
the doors, draw the drapes.
Shadows crawl under the bed.
Waking will not banish them.
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