~WILLIAM H. WANDLESS~

SOJOURNER'S SÉANCE

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To know a home forego the guided tour
and seek instead its sacristy, the room
reserved for guests.  Opened only seldom—
sometimes cloakroom, wardrobe for winter clothes,
time-honored hiding place for Christmas gifts—
the owner's notions there abide, rarefied
and resined: trophies, yearbooks, souvenirs,
hand-me-downs of love and obligation.
Such sturdy vestiges of yesteryear
will wake nostalgia with an offhand glance;
regard them as diversions.  To sound a home
recline upon the bed consigned to guests,
where restless sleepers rouse throughout the night
dormant tensions coiled in resentful springs.

 
 

© William H. Wandless