Oil on canvas.
Closet World (villanelle)
by Alex Dampney
A shrouded cupboard, caked with dirt and smears
containing truths a family hid away
has been ignored for more than thirty years.
This closet world encases secret fears
where terror-stricken creatures often pray.
In a shrouded cupboard, caked with dirt and smears
volcanoes spew out dust and lava sears
young skins submerged in boiling mud, where they
have been ignored for more than thirty years.
A flooding basin holds the bloody tears
of wounded beasts that roam in disarray.
In a shrouded cupboard, caked with dirt and smears
a girl hears screeches, harsh against her ears.
She knows the dread of night without a day,
she’s been ignored for more than thirty years.
She stands and stares. Her trembling body hears
the screaming monsters trapped and locked away
in shrouded cupboard, caked with dirt and smears
that’s been ignored for more than thirty years