Empty Bedrooms
written by: Ricky Hawthorne
@searsjames
I saw you
The bedroom door was ajar
Their bedroom
We’d given them that room
And took the rear
Away from the traffic
Away from the noise
Away from the sun
You didn’t see me
You didn’t hear me
I sidestepped that creaky old
Confessional floorboard
Our alert for when they awoke
Shuttling to the toilet
Or slipping between us
Uninvited but welcome
Snuggling into our space
Their little warm bodies
Heating our shivering backs
Watching you I became mesmerized by
Your stillness
Even when daylight broke in and
Re-flowered you like a
Spring crocus and
The Sun’s tender arms
Embraced and immunized you against
The freezing grip of Time
Suddenly, unpremeditated
A rage ripped you from your slumber
And you leapt like a Jaguar and
Attacked the carcass mattress
Spewing bland blankets asunder and
Ravaging carrion pillows
Tearing out odorless under-sheets and
Ransacking skeletal wardrobes and
Drab drawers for t-shirts and
Jeans to slap against window sills
Or scrape across spotless floors
Firing forlorn trainers under spider-less beds
Between the phantoms of odd socks
And as abruptly you ceased
Comfortable back among the carnage
Slipping, smiling into sweeter thoughts
Bobbing in the tide of a long, forgotten Summer
And I left you
Immovable
Stealing back across
Reliable flooring
To our room
To sit and stare too
At our flat even bedspread
Graduate of Warwick University
Triple honors in Literature, Theater and Film
- Detonation - September 14, 2023
- Con—Text - April 19, 2023
- Addiction - July 13, 2021
