The ticking of an antique clock, The smell of unwashed dishes, A sinewy hand curled around the heart Small slits of sunlight Peaked through the blindβs half shut eyelids. Burrowed in the shadows, She sunk into the old armchair. Ink scrawled papers littered the room, Resting gloomily on the coffee stained carpet and dust flecked tables. The words would not come. Her notepad ---- a casket for the desiccated shells Of words that carried no life.