Hope

She pulls her sleeves below her wrists
to hide the marks of angry fists,
and checks her face for signs of age,
puts makeup over signs of rage.
Her eyes are sad, her face is bright,
as she walks, smiling, to meet the night.
He meets her at the bottom stair,
the guests…his guests…already there.
An eyebrow raised, he takes her hand,
painfully, so she’ll understand.
His eyes meet hers with hate so real,
she shivers at the ice she feels.
She pastes a smile on, lady of the manor,
her expression proud as any banner.
The guests all see the beauty there,
holding hands upon the stair,
they cannot see the room inside,
where her dead heart must run and hide.
They cannot see the silent eyes,
the graveyard where her lost hope lies.

The old crab

a house, like the shell of some strange ocean dwelling creature,
never-changing, only thickening, intensifying with a perfume of years,
as salty as the thick mist that coats the sea at midnight.

A visitor approaches and the defenses go up
grasping and pinching she tucks her possessions
tightly to her, peering over the top with wild eyes
that see in all directions, guarding and protecting
what’s left of her life.