Salvation

Salvation
By Ronald Ray
bark.deviantart.com

Open window, fog seeps in; television color dances,
lamplight struggles to make this place look
like more than a memory but fails

In a sideways, backwards world that should be in black-and-white, r&b plays
Papers folded upon the kitchen table,
books in the living room, magazines;
all whispering, none shouting, sleepy grey fog slipping

I gave up ash for Lent, wore a clown mask to church and howled; it was the wrong church.

I was only dreaming, I think, but there were no constellations to console in the roofless sky

I walked back to my sideways house
and watched TV without sound.
(Remember to check all the closets.) (Ignore the fog.)

Your voice on the phone sounds like salvation.