Those Cracks In Sidewalks Never Leave

Locked Inside the Bathroom

She locked the bathroom door
and I hear her crying.
She never cries, or locks the
bathroom door.

I’ll wait right here outside the
door, lean my head against the
wall, and have to listen to her
cry.

At least when she cries
I know she is still alive.

My legs hurt – I keep moving
them because they get these
funny tingles and feel funny. . .

Really, I don’t want to hear
her cry or sit here on the floor.
I don’t like it when she locks
the bathroom door!

If I knock, she’ll get mad
and probably cry louder. . .

So I wait, no one else is
home. No one else hears
her cry.

I’m tired, and so I’ll knock
just a little. My voice,
louder, “I’m here waiting
for you. Can you hear me?”

She continued to cry and
I continued to wait, on the
floor – legs crossed.

I want someone to come
home, anyone – if I leave
the floor near the door she
may never come out.

The only thing I heard
above her cry was our bird
tweetie.

Nancy Duci Denofio
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