BREAKING AND ENTERING

The door was unlocked
so no breaking was involved
I was gliding past all these
pretty houses
where I’ve never lived but would like to
if only for a night or two
To see what it’s like to be someone else
Dealing with other things
to see how the other half lives
how they make do                  
how they get through the days and nights
how they thrive and dominate
wet bars gleaming   electronics that amaze    brim full pantries
closets you can dance in
I couldn’t resist one quick chance
to get out of the cold
to pass through those rooms like a ghost
without fingerprints    not even a shadow
to just be there a prisoner of the moment
like a fly on the wall
looking at the flames in the fireplace
getting hypnotized
flesh getting warmed
barely noticing the music and voices upstairs
looking out the majestic window at the world
with all its hazards and blemishes
rather than standing in the bushes
peeping in through the window longingly
just floating through these rooms and hallways like a lost soul
harmless as a fly
checking headlines in a newspaper at the kitchen table
the world still about to collapse
pouring a cup of coffee
holding up a small sculpture free of any sharp edges
smelling the fresh flowers
looking over the photos on the refrigerators
where everyone is smiling and clean
noticing how someone decorated this space
aware of colors that calm the psyche
and how that painting of two children playing in a field
would inspire harmony and bliss
And as fear kicked in
exiting forever by the back door
soundlessly
a rough-hewn spirit going back to where it belongs.

August 2020