House, Perhaps Abandoned

The cliffs and roofs are green with moss
and the walls have faded to rock-color
except near the ground where they are stained with earth.

Maybe this barn of a house is an illusion
mirage on the horizon of a slate-blue sky
pile of rocks on an island that has never been inhabited

maybe it's our eyes that rearrange the hues
into a familiar form shaped by the hands
that we so desperately want to have lived and worked here.

Maybe the slate-blue sea laughs at our
pretensions of endurance. Do you fear
abandoned houses more or less than the never-lived in?

Image courtesy of Jef Poskanzer via Cafe Writing.

Collection available! Knocking from Inside