This is the living room
I’ve always been a fan of the vaulted ceiling
We used linen and silk throughout
She used to curl up with a pillow and her morning espresso
I slept on the futon with a newspaper over my face
The floors were done with the intention of being easy to clean
And also stepped on frequently
You will note the Scotch thistle at the centre of each ceramic tile
And seconds later you will note the surrounding desolation
You know how some marriages go
One day it’s daffodils and lint rollers
The next you come home and she’s at the stove
There’s a perfume hanging in the air
The shower’s running and she’s about to flip an omelet but instead
She turns to you
I’m a great believer in folk healing
So we had this sunroom added about nineteen years ago
I hope you don’t mind listening to me go on
Isn’t it funny
I have a lofty new age friend but I myself am not lofty
Though I recited Tennyson to her the first time we met
I was eleven she laughed at my back all lumpy with deerfly bites
It was summer and she worked on me like a crowbar
Though she was only nine
This is the bedroom my legs still ache when I look at the four-poster
Would you like to touch her raincoat would you like to wrap on her black dress
You think they wouldn’t suit you
Well I guess you need a certain something to pull them off
I see you want me to get on with it
So this is the bay window here are the floorboards that is the ceiling
Let me pull the shades let me find the heat dial
I used to believe in the law of proximity
Oh don’t nod like you understand
It’s a term I made up
It is the belief that if you bear witness to something terrible
You will never directly experience
That terrible thing
Which does not explain why
At my age
And having lost her
I am finally being taken to the Farmhouse
I wake up in the morning on the floor of a furniture-less room. Everything removed while I dreamed. How did they manage to take the bed with me still sleeping in it?
We just passed the kitchen which was redone in I can’t remember
Copper and a new fan, six burners
If you peer around that corner you’ll see the bathroom and with any luck
No one will be in it
Clawfoot, skylight, keep it moving
No I’ll need to pause here for a minute
I’ll need you to go on without me
Can you hear that din
It’s coming from the mountain to your left
She is passing overhead
Her span is exceptional
Even a town this big gets dark under the shadow of her wings