i have stolen away

my house of stone
deep shadows fell
my bourbon-scented cave

sipping tea with the
skeleton of each
passed, bleached memory

your ghost pads
on carpeted floor
stained wall
open door
emptied shelf

my rhizomes squeeze out
'tween cracks in these
old foundation's chinks

trunk, bursting up
from the widow's walk
my cap and canopy

pantry and cellar
collapsed and opened
broken and mulched for me

i am staid, ravine
cottage bounds burst
corn to caern