when walls have been erected but windows not yet hung

and they stare vacant like sockets

when doorways open up the space

without the option of being closed yawning out

when ceilings gape open

and skeleton stairs imply their destiny

when walls echo the absent paintings

dulled in shades of sinking greys

when floors appear expanded

made vast by the shadows of the missing carpets

when the space is emptied of all the things

but of every feeling

when spirit is sealed so deeply it may ever stay withdrawn

when hearts are too scarred to feel

when the way

though just before you

lies still invisible

2/15/95