I've left my door ajar, as you have yours;
but while your lamps are seldom lit, I leave
mine burning full. I'm not afraid of flame.
Whatever you may glimpse inside is all
there is of me, contained in one small room;
and should you spot a volume on the shelf—
protected in a slipcase—you might see
your name upon its spine. Know, then, that I
have left it there for you to read someday,
if ever you decide to venture in.
Dénouement
Your door is shut and all is dark as death.
There is a terrible finality
that hovers in the very air around
that door; and as I pass it by, I bow
my head and clutch my shawl beneath my chin
as though in mourning. I have no wish to stay;
for if I dared to knock, I'd only hear
an echo answer from the darkened room;
then I would know that you were lost to me,
and that my book lay dusty on the floor.
© Leticia Austria 2008, 2009
"Exposition" was originally titled "On the Shelf"; under that title, it won First Prize in the Awaken the Sleeping Poet contest in 2008 and was first published in Dreamcatcher.
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