Triptych of a Woman Standing in an Empty Room

1

 

The room is

one color.

 

There is no one here, only

a shoe in one corner,

the tip of a finger

curled up,

 

a single strand of black hair

caught in the space

between two floorboards.

 

2

 

Now we tell her what she is:

too thin,

sallow,

taking up space.

 

She is not smoking a cigarette

but the residue lingers,

peels back the wallpaper

so it drags back like a ghost.

 

She is wearing clothes.

She is wearing, specifically,

a navy blue housecoat

and one off-white silk slipper.

 

She is thinking about

furniture –

 

how it stands still

and never opens its mouth,

has evolved into something

 

mouthless, man-made,

entirely functional.

 

3

 

The room is

white space around her.

 

There is no one here,

only dust in the corners,

 

framed still-life

with a hummingbird and

several cream colored dahlias,

 

one stray pearl button.