All the Dead Doors

All the Dead Doors
By
Lisa A. Williams

All the dead doors

bolted, warped in

old time, sealed

barring entry to a past

so keen

    in fortune telling.

Stories-

long unspoken around

blazing hearths of kin

and truth.

Fathers’ wishes-

ashes now.

Mothers’ dreams-

cold, dead bolts.

Still, if I listen

heart remembers their

old songs,

if only I could hear

the true rhythm

of their words.