And This Window Opens

Sisana Lazarus

I’ve been staring out this window my entire life I see the same people and hear the same sounds Blending into one beautiful terrifying shape Breathing and sweating and crying Waltzing in time with each beat of the day The mechanical stream of what is and what isn’t The blood and the veins of a living picture show Peering into me as I try to contain it

This window never cracks Although it may dirty For months at a time without a polish Where the figurines have no faces And the hymns they sing are anguished Where the sun runs away And the sky is unfinished The motions go on Against better judgement

As I swim into my twentieth year The window opens More than ever before And the beings and trees are angrier Yet so loving and warm and tender This window endures To scold and to liberate Embracing all grace and imperfection Beyond the fragile prison of my mind