don't go into the basement, she said

she wouldn't

let

me see her basement.

what was

down there?

bodies?

feral cats,

wild dogs?

mice and spiders?

what was she hiding?

money,

love letters, her diary,

a life

when

she broke the law?

a portrait of her

with nothing on?

she kept

the door locked.

the dead bolt slid tight

into the slot.

sometimes

i'd put my ear

to the door

and listen. but nothing.

nothing but the smell

of wet laundry

and the ticking

of a clock.