The Door You Closed

 

The Door You Closed

By: LaRae Pynas



I keep the door you closed from fading away.
The hallway holds its breath each sleepless night,
Your absence is the ghost that bids me stay.

I trace the peeling paint, the soft decay,
As though my touch could turn regret to light;
I keep the door you closed from fading away.

I whisper what I never found a way
To say before you vanished out of sight;
Your absence is the ghost that bids me stay.

The others say that time will smooth this gray,
That love moves on, that shadows learn to write;
I keep the door you closed from fading away.

But every step I take to move astray
Returns me here, compelled by some old rite;
Your absence is the ghost that bids me stay.

Perhaps one dawn I’ll finally turn away,
Unbolt my heart and walk into the light;
I keep the door you closed from fading away,
Your absence is the ghost that bids me stay.

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