The House

I woke up in a house of stone chambers
all connected by broken doorways.
The chambers were vast and cold
and all i could hear were the echoes of myself.
An unknown tide would rise
and i clambered onto the stone figures.
Each statue had a face of myself
that i studied very deeply,
every crease and every furrow.
And i named them all…
sorrow, despair, envy, greed.

And when the water retreated
i would traverse the seaweed covered floor,
climb the broken lintels and enter the next chamber.
Each room got more grand
and the cries of my soul louder
until my tears merged with the salted stone.
I saw light leading the way out,
i heard distant voices beckoning me on,
“Just get to the next room” they would say.
My steps got lighter not aware of the time
except for the tides.
I reached for the day.

I travelled through dark places,
i let them go one face at a time
till all that was left in me was space
space for light to flood the rooms
and the house became a mansion.
The statues are still there
and they glint with gold
in awareness and memory
of how far i´ve come.

Laura Berry (Napowrimo Day 1 – 2024)