Nutshell (poem)

Nutshell

You know a secret that would crack the nut

Yet it’s no secret

When the boredom ends

when every floor has been swept clean

And the doors

The gaping holes

Allowing other hands to touch the walls, eyes

to stare through glass at passersby

The doors

Can now be closed

The windows bare of curtains

Let the light expose

The chipping varnish

The cracking ceiling

In the room where no one goes

Do they ever blame their captors

Only turn against each other

Introduced to the betrayer

Burrows, gorges, like the hornworm

Then in turn becomes the host

The nutshell hatches

Such a marvel that the weight of bones

Lying bones

Can fill a sack

Reduced to ash

Swept clean away like dust

The Nutshell Hatches

Take Your Place

(2014, 2023 Stephanie Foster)