Those doors were thought to be closed—
those heavy, thick doors on massive iron hinges
were pulled firmly closed and locked
with a giant padlock.
Cobwebs had appeared in the corners,
clinging whispily like fragments of bad dreams
that had seeped through the cracks—
impotent and harmless and forgotten.How foolish to think
that locks cannot be opened—
that an enormous rusty key could not be found
and fitted into the lock,
swinging those savage doors wide again
to bang against the walls that reverberate
with the violence of it,
sucking the cobwebs back inside to feed the nightmare.
those heavy, thick doors on massive iron hinges
were pulled firmly closed and locked
with a giant padlock.
Cobwebs had appeared in the corners,
clinging whispily like fragments of bad dreams
that had seeped through the cracks—
impotent and harmless and forgotten.How foolish to think
that locks cannot be opened—
that an enormous rusty key could not be found
and fitted into the lock,
swinging those savage doors wide again
to bang against the walls that reverberate
with the violence of it,
sucking the cobwebs back inside to feed the nightmare.
The doors yawn open now—
their malevolent jaws, hungry
for the piteous soul that stands
at the threshold—
unbelieving, incredulous, startled.
How could this calamity, this fearful place,
this endless maw of suffering
be opened once again—
when it had once been slammed forever shut
by you?
…
© Katharine Sparrow, 2014