my mother wrote poems
on a green toilet door
all the secrets buried in the halls of
her chest
stories hidden
in walls
and drawers and floors

in a place
no one looked, her words would
pour
black ink on green paint, a place
to confess
my mother wrote poems on a green toilet door

on their street was a house
– the shadow next door
teaching Sunday
school lessons for girls to undress
stories hidden in walls and
drawers and floors

her father a man, a man of war
with badges and medals
strapped
to his breast
my mother wrote poems on a green
toilet door

her father a wolf, a great wolf
of war
three daughters no­one
thought to protect
stories hidden
in walls and drawers and
floors

wolves hunt
humans
– children most of all
the house
as dark as a crow­feathered
nest

my mother wrote
poems
on a green toilet
door
stories hidden in walls and doors and floors