shortly before embarking on
what was intended to be an
exploration of the Dark Continent
I decided to move in with a family
of middle aged brothers and sisters

I boldly knocked on their door
they had never seen me before
or heard anything of my exploits
but made no effort to prevent me
from entering the gabled house
settling in to become the brother
who'd returned after years abroad
with a trunk of exotic souvenirs
and a string of tales to match

like my acquired siblings I soon
mastered the art of forgetting
abandoned all idea of continental
exploration in order to explore
the infinite mysteries of this house

so many books here in languages
we can never hope to understand
though months have been spent
attempting to decipher a single page

in one of the bedrooms a closet door
opens on a flagstoned path to an alley
that vanished over a century ago

on autumn nights the wind rattles
the shutters and the Mad King's
laughter drifts up from the cellar

from Barbarous Radiates