Unfurnished

Bare walls possessed of outlines

that traced where pictures used to hang,

nail holes remind of spots

the decorations once adorn

those alabaster sheet rock barriers.

 

Green carpet matted and frayed,

only a hint left of what once was new,

cracks along the ceiling ,

a souvenir from an earthquake five years ago,

hooks also left in place,

once they held plants and lights

to help complete the ornaments of peace.

 

Even in the void,

where images of the furniture

stay alive in the mind like ghosts,

they can’t be purge in the mind

of how they moan their memories

about tears and laughter,

drama and satire,

known when this apartment living room

was our refuge for ten years.

 

Today we finished our move,

back to clean this hollow space

before starting over in a house.

 

But we can’t leave

without the echoes of time

felt in the heart and soul,

all the energy we shared

just soaked into that domain.

 

Though we close the door one last time,

part of us will always remain

both in that chamber

for another to furnish,

as well as in the home

ever existing in our thoughts.