In the middle of the raging night
I slip the key into the door
Creaking open on its hinges
Bust of Pallas groans “no more, no more”
It has been a long, long year since I dared come back up here
The chamber with haunted butterflies
Perched on smashed up photographs
Tear stains on their wings –
I gaze upon our wedding bed
Where my letter still lays unread
Picking up the sealed envelope
Yellow paper crumbles into dust
The greatest words I ever wrote…
And I cannot remember now what it was I said
I draw open the cob-webbed curtains
Starry, starry night
Crooked rooftops smeared out across bruised fields
To the churning, tormented sea
Thick, soft light bleeds from leaded windows
Almost happily
My glassy eyes begin to roam:
I wonder if you are out there
I wonder if you are home.
*