I Enter Her Prison

I enter her prison,
reunited we trade hugs,
her warm smile belies delicate, glassy eyes.

Her eyes whisper the truth
and cast shadows on her lighthearted smile.


She stands on
the top step
of an infinity


of stairs only



descending.

I play the maid like when Odysseus returned,
and wait for the result of this trick.

She is a pawn in a game of chess
making frantic decisions to avoid being unmasked.

She takes others off as we move across the board.
They force her to descend those stairs
instead of lingering on the highest step.
They make her cry
rather than letting her hide in her smile.

Life continues like a river.
She has finally put down the anchor,
but nothing can stop the current





when the waterfall is near.