The Door You Closed

I keep the door you closed from fading away. The hallway holds its breath each sleepless night, Your absence is the ghost that bids me stay. I trace the peeling paint, the soft decay, As though my touch could turn regret to light; I keep the door you closed from fading away. I whisper what I never found a way To say before you vanished out of sight; Your absence is the ghost that bids me stay. The others say that time will smooth this gray, That love moves on, that shadows learn to write; I keep the door you closed from fading away. But every step I take to move astray Returns me here, compelled by some old rite; Your absence is the ghost that bids me stay. Perhaps one dawn I’ll finally turn away, Unbolt my heart and walk into the light; I keep the door you closed from fading away, Your absence is the ghost that bids me stay. XoXo LaRae Pynas