You moved me through each room
~ after hypnotherapy
All the rooms are empty, as if no one
had ever lived in them. You ask
where am I & I say, the kitchen,
the windows broken, the curtains
ragged, dust thick on the counters
& dead birds fill the sink. What house
& I say, it’s just a place we’re staying
between houses, jus a woman
my mother works with. Find the stairs,
you tell me & I climb them on all
fours, a door off to the right,
the knob level with my eyes, I
reach up to turn it, I’d forgotten
about needing to reach. Inside my mother sits
before a mirror, fixing her hair. I lie
on the bed & watch, inside the only room
the sun seems to enter, the only room
lit up and clean. She says, I’m going out
and I want you to be good.
the whole time I know
I can lift my hands, open my eyes & walk
back into today, but I never try.