Empty rooms
{on leaving}
Hollow and echoing rooms
Nothing to absorb the sound now
The phantoms stretch and play
All other life drained out
Through the sieve of trucks and crates
 
We leave holes
Hammered in and yanked back
Scars dot the baseboards and the walls
Chipped paint, worn corners
 the only remnants now
the windows blank and waiting
 
I wander through, breathing
Mindful, thankful
Calculating the smiles and tears
Tapping against my chest
Rememberings filter in
Afternoon sun through the white blinds
 
Soon we will be erased
With paint and spray and time
Other voices will bounce off the walls
Other bodies will wear down fresh corners
New smiles and tears will settle into the floors
 
But for now, we are still here
Our tangibility softly fading
In and out
Our empty rooms