Keith Polette
West of Pocatello
The house is empty, the rooms larger now without furniture, like a first full breath after years of waiting. The hardwood floors have been swept clean, and the holes in the walls made by nails that held framed photos have been filled in. Even the lines on the doorframe that marked the growth of children have been erased. The kitchen cupboards, freshly painted, display no fingerprints or palm smudges. There is nothing left to reveal who lived here, not a sign of their manner. In the basement, though, there is an empty birdcage, its door open, like an invitation for the house to loosen itself from its foundation, to open its walls and lift quietly into flight.
empty parking lot a yellow pencil points the way
About the Author
Keith Polette lives in El Paso, Texas. His book of haiku, The New World, was published by Red Moon Press.