there is something about a duplex which says

a house can be one and still be divided

everything an effort to be able to reach out

who’s story sits in the corner-most room

the flickering light that will not be fixed

the cobwebs beneath chairs and behind beds

who gets the mattress when two sharing a room fight

who gets the AC, who gets the pillow, and how

there is something about a duplex

and the terror of stairs- from underneath the fear

of a horror movie, a face staring from between the gap,

from the upper floor the coming to life of a

family drama you did not want to watch

there is something about concrete and two floors

that still cannot shield children from the shouts

and cries, everything becomes quieter, the voices

become clearer; the horror of stairs where you sit

listening closely to the swords of words

a battlefield, your childhood the collateral damage

to a burning family; listening closely

to the beating of your own heart

there is something about a duplex

there is something about noises

there is something about stairs

that makes the soul go numb