The Visitor (Thursday Doors Writing Challenge)

photo by Dan Antion

Is that a knock at the door?
The bell has never worked–
now the door is pounding
as is my heart.

No one comes
to this door anymore.
“Who is it?”

A voice emerges in sounds
that form no words
I can understand.
Have I forgotten any language
but the one inside my head?

Fear keeps the door closed.
“Who do you want?”
Silence, then more sounds.
Angry.

Will they try to kick the door
open, like that crazy lost soul
years ago who thought
I had stolen his home? 
(Where is he now?
I wonder with sudden alarm)—

But whoever or whatever
this is does not reply
with force, or any other thing.

After a while I sense only
the empty street.  Waiting.
For what, who?  I wait, too–
with the door, the street,
the intractable world.

Dan’s door photo reminded me of what the world felt like during the early months of Covid. I actually did experience an incident similar to this. I was newly moved into an apartment (in February 2020–that’s the door in the second photo) and knew no one in the building at all. Perhaps they had the wrong apartment, or were looking for the former resident. In any case, they never came back.

The whole city was eerily quiet for a long time.

The collages are from a series I did in the 1980s. Many of them contained doors.

The Thursday Doors Writing Challenge is open for the entire month of May, hosted by Dan Antion. Anyone can join in–you can see all the doors available to inspire you here.