Take me back

To live

through whispers in the other

room, where the cage walls’ vibrations

carry along the word of the rare

precious diamonds

hidden with the bats,

in the attic with no exit,

is quiet

besides

the tolls of the bells

hanging themselves

from the rusted fire sprinklers

with a noose that sinks

at the speed of continents

on their way to hell…

Take me.

Take me back

then, pre-renovation when

the bats came and went;

pre-fire, the fire where

the roof’s eyes wept

and I

was labelled a survivor;

before the fire took away

the oxygen in my attic…

Take me, someone,

take me back