Invitation (First appeared in Yellow Chair Review)
Just because there is a wind chime
hanging by the door,
doesn’t mean you will hear it
tinkling in this poem.
Just because a door is mentioned,
doesn’t mean you’ll know if it’s
opened or shut. Maybe it’s neither.
Just inviting. Inviting you in.
Just because a door seems inviting,
tempting one to peer inside,
doesn’t mean you can simply
walk through it.
Just because you managed to get in,
doesn’t mean you’re welcome
to stay for as long as you like.
This door makes a horrible noise
when one walks in and this house
belongs to no one.
Abandoned.
Covered with cobwebs and dust.
It’s dark inside.
The air feels cold and dense.
This place has a strange smell and
it feels eerie.
This house is pregnant with silence
until a sudden noise of footsteps is heard.
But no one ever moved.
Not even an inch.
So who’s there?
Who’s there?
Does it matter?
Just leave.
Run!
Run towards the door
that does not exist.
by Prerna Bakshi - Prerna Bakshi is a writer, poet and activist of Indian origin, currently based in Macao. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and the author of the recently released full-length poetry collection, Burnt Rotis, With Love, long-listed for the 2015 Erbacce-Press Poetry Award in the UK. More here - http://prernabakshi.strikingly.com/