a knock on the door
ripples through my room
and i sink in it
taking down the striders
and the fallen-but-floating leaves.
i'm afraid of...
(ha, how easy it would be if the fear
had a clear source and a near sink)
(( papa, there's something scary there!
what? where?
a witch, a woman, there in the corner.
there's nothing there, it's all in your head ))
i'm just afraid.
(( how's that supposed to make me
feel better? isn't it worse
if it's all in my head? ))
all night the neighbor's unpicked mangoes
fall and thud and knock on the asbestos roof
like a clock keeping a wrong time
a witchwoman knocking sincerely.
~ ajay
16/7/2022
