By Linda Marshall
I. No way back
Door encased in clambering blooms, ajar and inviting, outside is on the inside – you
are greeted with carpets of moorland, furniture of rocks and crags, ceilings of leaking
sky, storms brewing, ready to pelt the hillsides, gales of chill and no certain refuge.
Once you have passed through the entrance of blowsy flowers, you are forever on
the outside.
II. The dog’s domain
Guard dog is on top-step duty, alert in boots of white fur, warning passers-by to stay
away for their own wellbeing. Dog fears what lies within, but nobody needs
protecting. Aunt Agatha isn’t in the living room with her cup of char, reading murder
mysteries, plotting someone’s demise. She has never set foot in the place. No one
has. Dog doesn’t suspect this. He keeps on barking with necessary fury.
III. The rocking horse
The red door – inside, one giant rocking horse, with no space to move, sheds a tear
of blood. A miniature kitchen beyond, where cook’s underling, a porcelain doll does
the baking, rolling a pin over flat pieces of dough. The infant of the house has
outgrown her slippers and the door back to childhood says NO ENTRY.
Linda Marshall 2023