The Walls Still Whisper

They ask why I never go back.
My voice disappears
in that house.

You can never go home again—
the self that belonged
is gone.

A bird falls frozen
from its bough,
no pity in its wings.

I am one of Sendak’s creatures,
howling for supper
where love once waited.

So I sail between—
a vanished voice,
a heavy crown,
a hunger that does not leave.