Richard James Allen

DOOR

What he liked about it was that it was unlocked.
No one was stopping him. He could go in at any time.
He’d turned the handle a few times and he knew he could open it.
All he would need would be a tiny further supination
of his proximal radioulnar joint and the door would spring open,
or maybe glide open, or perhaps just ease open with a soft groan.
Sometimes, after midnight, he’d sneak up the stairs and make his way
down the long dark passageway to test it. Yes, it was still open.
That is, it could be opened. How amazing that no one thought to lock it!
How amazing that they didn’t know that all it would take from him
would be a little thought, a tiny decision, the flicker of an impulse
deep in the frontal lobe of his cerebral cortex, that would only be registered,
if at all, as a minute graying of the eyes, a contracting of the space
between the cheek and the jaw. What fools they were, he thought,
walking back down the corridor and away from the gateway to mysteries
and richnesses he knew he would never summon up the courage to

EXPLORE

Richard James Allen is an Australian born poet whose writing has appeared widely in journals, anthologies, and online over thirty years. Former Artistic Director of the Poets Union, Inc., he has written nine books of poetry, edited a national anthology, and combined a unique international career as a multi-award-winning writer, director, choreographer, and performer for stage and screen. www.physicaltv.com.au
 
 
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