I arrange everything
so she will stay:

side by side rooms
a bowl of daffodils

bright coloured children's
sheets on the bed

I hear her cry during the night
stifle my own tears under a pillow

in the morning I bathe her
in warm perfumed water

explain the symbols
of her nightmare

I dream she rises from
the dead I dream she travels

forever in a land of shadows
a dark shape without a name

this is what I find:
the stems of flowers eaten

pieces of coloured paper cut
into human figures

the features of her face
left like strands of hair

on the surface of the mirror

Copyright by Carolyn Zonailo: www.carolynzonailo.com, 2004