Lewd secrets
slip and slide
skitter by on polished boards
and glimpsed
they slither under mats

and in the mirror
of this house
sly shadows glide,
brown specks of age
blot the shiny surface

but a lingering malaise
keeps me from throwing
up the windows,
tying back the curtains,
to dissipate the mould
velvetting hard borders.

I breathe
the heavy silence,
feel drawn
into a lethal past
where memory shivers
and malevolent secrets
seethe and writhe
almost forgotten
in an airless cupboard
under the stairs

and yet I know it is wiser
to walk away,
lock fast the door
nullify the past

and wander in the garden
to bask in sunlight.

Dawn Bruce

meet Dawn Bruce