The Room, Mimi, and I

A small study lamb, a tea cup with sharpened lead pencils (number two), polished wooden panels: walls dressed in masks (African vodun mugs). An old stone fireplace with portrait of a colored girl dancing above stained hardwood mantel. Mimi, with a mind as dull as the room, hung her thoughts out for scrutiny. Shadows waltz in the faint glow, and smell send eyes searching and minds speculating about the smudges on worn carpet. From the door, dark antique table stood smug, on lion’s paws, in a corner to the left. Grandfather clock with pendulum, a tongue that utters time. A gem tells of certainty, and minds were compelled and led captives, but Mimi and her tactless wit could never fathom why gwampa run. Grandfather ran when liberty summoned, and this room expresses a life that is far too deep for her to clutch.