WHILE ALL THE WHILE

Love like a vapor -

love like an inkling of

what was or what might be -

comes through the wall

as if the wall was a window:

splintering bricks and

turning mortar to treacle,

while all the while there is a door.

Love like a an upstart -

love like an agitator mad

at contentment - fumes at the elders

who abide in a bedroom

more like a wedding chapel:

flickering candles

dapple the stained-glass shutters,

while all the while there is a door.

Love like a soldier -

love scarred from battles

that have only just ended -

cries liberation: scores

of gaunt, haunted prisoners

find that their shackles

are like cheap Yuletide garland,

while all the while there is a door.