HOW TO CLOSE A DOOR

When the phone is hung up

and the screen remains blank,

but the threads of loss

and questions

and imagination

still float free,

find a dark stone.

Any one will do,

but let it have weight in your hand

and let that weight feel heavy.

When silence follows you,

but is occupied by ghosts

and shreds of color

that flap in the wind like old prayer flags,

cut a branch that flows rich with sap.

Get the stickiness on your hands –

it’s hard to wash off.

Cut a ripe tomato with a sharp knife.

See how it slices through the tender flesh

so cleanly.

Make a stew and eat it hot enough

to almost burn your mouth.

Make a pile of bones,

if you can find some.

When you wake up in the darkest hours of

the night,

peek into the private spaces of your soul,

and see if you still have a few tears to

shed,

even if those rivers of grief have largely

dried,

and are now full of sunbaked rocks

and parched willows.

The nocturnal animals:

the owls

the mice

the roaches

the raccoons

the bobcats

roam outside your den,

carrying on their night-work.

- Albuquerque, NM