Locked
at half past five full dark
and all the doors shut
shutter
down the hall the dogs barking
above dancing on their floor, my skull
shrinking night by night
somehow the rooms are getting smaller
or am I getting larger
down to the laundry the knob won’t turn
and the bathroom door is empty, locked
turn around and where’d you go
is that your coat disappearing around the corner
are those your shoes on the floor
wait, you left your—
I am waiting for the cupboard to open
some handle’s pressed against it shut
I am waiting for you to come home
and open all the doors
Rebecca Ann Jordan is a speculative fiction author, artist, and editor. Her stories and poems have been published in Strange Horizons, Flapperhouse, Fiction Vortex, Strangelet, and more. In 2015 Becca participated in the Clarion Writer’s Workshop and holds an MFA from California Institute of the Arts in 2016. While Becca first sprung from the earth near the San Diego area, she now sells weird and wonderful books in the mountain town of Durango, Colorado. See more atrebeccaannjordan.com or follow her @beccaquibbles.