I Am Said I (Huruma)

She waits in the shadows Of a winter evening’s dusk Eyes grown slowly dim Everything slowing down Children wandering Away and astray The tight control On life’s unfolding Unravelled In exile Looking homeward With a wondering Would it have been Better not to have left At all in the first place? The question might Be better left Unasked in the end The answer left Unsaid.

In the severe winters Of our childhood The wind roared On rattling windows Whistling haunting tunes Through the gaps The rain beating On their thinness It was close and fearsome And thrilling And frost when it came Freezing the panes Turned water to ice In the taps And we snuggled together In double beds under Heavy blankets peeping At creepy shadows on the wall I lay in bed now listening To the wind blowing On the double glazing Of my middle age Backing away muffled and muted