Ink spills carelessly across
The once-bright page of memories
We'd written in and for ourselves
We kept no sense, and other dreams

Stained them dark and blooded
As when the stranger showed
Demanding and insistent
That all the truths be told

The walls have cracks with age
We'd hoped they'd let our stories out
Instead they let your demons in
Ill-prepared with crumbling grout

Darkness has a name now too
Doors unlocked and windows latched
It finds the gaps that we forgot
The light doesn't stand a chance

12/2/23