10/04.
I.
tonight
she finds herself
left behind, choking
on ashes.
the light on the shelf
where her picture used to be
is burning out.
and names left,
here, to fade away.

long ago, the river
found its way to
this house's front door.
one year ago,
a spirit departed
not forgotten.

in swollen memory,
it's girls singing night
thru the halls &echoes;
behind a white door.

(another voice has found its
way into the resonance.
the broken harmonies
provide reassurance
to the stories inside
these walls.)

II.
girl stands in halflit doorway,
singing songs of invention and disbelief--
candles on dim porches,
tired cars,
tired slaves.
inside -- the walls breathe
like accordions
alive with her story.
glory fades into whispers
into silence, into dust.
her heart radio (racing)
playing the same track
repeatedly.
voices underwater,
steady (harnessed) scent
of black roses.
don't tempt me, the
silence.
o sunstruck night, beaten.
"it's here, follow."
do you follow?