Reading notes
A way further in
Not the final meaning. Just a closer read, a better question, and a few nearby poems worth opening next.
Start with the concrete details: the room, the body, the parent, the door. They are carrying the feeling for you.
Opening line
Where the door opens.
A thousand fun-house mirrors arrayed
Center line
Where the temperature changes.
head, you can't ever seem to meet their
Leaving line
The line to carry out with you.
He lived the life that you escaped.
If you came here carrying something
If your inner world still has your family in it, these poems know that language.
Themes in this poem
These poems meet the reader where memory and upbringing still shape the present tense.
After you read
Stay in the archive a little longer.
If this one stayed with you, keep it. Then either leave a note, keep moving through the archive, or open a random poem.
Checking holds...
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Keep this one close.
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Share this poem
Send the line onward, save the story image, or pass the poem to someone who needs it.
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Listening room
Hear the poem in one breath.
A studio reading for the archive, voiced with care and restraint.