Richard Austin
The runed house
The architecture of grief
is intricate, comprising
many false perspectives
and illusory rooms. It is
framed against a dark sky
in rare solitude, but secret
as you pass it by. No rooks
caw by the ruined walls
and the mouse explores
the untenanted hall. The light
crawls through the broken shutters
curls before the empty gates.
Two ghosts sit here:
she who loved, and he
who left her there.
The house looks secure,
but the wind and the ruinous frost
have seen to that; the stone
has eroded, crumbled to dust,
though an arch stands yet,
curved like a hand that reaches
in the dark to be taken
and clasps the empty air.
Two ghosts sit by an empty grate,
with time to pause, time to meditate.
Page(s) 58
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