TIME can’t even tell
when the last drop of sound was heard
in this dingy cobweb dwelling.
Been buried beneath
layers of dust and soot
when the noise consumed the
emptiness
of this room filled with forgotten entities.
As he picked me up
to wipe the dirt off of me,
he freed me from this wooden frame
that housed me for all those forlorn years.
His mahogany eyes
pierced through my innocence.
He scrutinized every part of me:
the smile I wore,
the cowlick on my head,
and every baby tooth hollowed with cavity.
All these revealed my juvenile chastity.
But when I caught a glimpse
of the bush under his chin
and a token from puberty
bulging from his neck,
I was faced with the visage
of a stranger
whom I could be
had I left this sanctuary
built to suspend the judgement of time.
