Helena Nelson
Inside his house she builts her house of words
At first it was very tall and thin -
she could hardly get in.
She dismantled the upper storeys,
extended the kitchen, widened the doorways.
Still there were too many apologies;
she wanted permissions
and colour. She made the house
talk to itself - a million echoes.
Photographs were to be expected
but not the mirrors reflecting
endlessly and corridors
and fireplaces and secret stairs.
Under the skylight, there was a piano
and geraniums at every window.
There were rooms for writing, sleeping, thinking
and a library linked to
an ironing room whose sheets of light
fluttered with lavender and violet.
On the roof a pool of summer rain
ushered a sudden garden
full of butterflies and birds -
all of them made out of beautiful words.
Page(s) 41
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