The Door You Closed

I keep the door you closed from fading away.

The hallway holds its breath each sleepless night,

Your absence is the ghost that bids me stay.

I trace the peeling paint, the soft decay,

As though my touch could turn regret to light;

I keep the door you closed from fading away.

I whisper what I never found a way

To say before you vanished out of sight;

Your absence is the ghost that bids me stay.

The others say that time will smooth this gray,

That love moves on, that shadows learn to write;

I keep the door you closed from fading away.

But every step I take to move astray

Returns me here, compelled by some old rite;

Your absence is the ghost that bids me stay.

Perhaps one dawn I’ll finally turn away,

Unbolt my heart and walk into the light;

I keep the door you closed from fading away,

Your absence is the ghost that bids me stay.