Objects tell you to get out
Although the neighbors are silent;
Clattering’s safe, still’s violent;
And airless in so wall-less a redoubt,
“Airy” should imply beguilement,
Not blood this plate, this cup, this clout
Of sinks and sluicegates, chutes let doubt
Invoke a stockyard, a dread enislement.
Things solidify what you desire,
Massed for a plausibly deniable rout,
Recruiting a lamp to set your bed on fire;
Inherent in joinery’s the will to conspire,
And to your eviction the sills are devout:
The pipes will scald, the balks will maim,
Some spatial purity to regain
Yet render unexposed the felon;
O chastened chatelain, unchaste castellan,
You’re de-incarcerated, cast down, cast out.
Redoubt – (Pronounced re-DAUT) A small enclosed defensive position.
Clout – A play on two meanings: 1) a household cloth; and 2) influence.
Enislement – (Pronounced en-EYE-əl-ment) Isolation.
Joinery – Cabinetmaking, fine woodwork.
Devout – Here, devoted.
Balk – (Pronounced bawk) A construction beam or rafter.
Chasten – (Pronounced CHĀS-ən) To punish or humble.
Chatelain – (Pronounced SHAT-əl-ān) The governor of a castle; not to be confused with “chatelaine” ending in “e” which means: 1) the female owner of a chateau; or 2) a decorative belt hook.
Castellan – (Pronounced ka-STEL-ən, a secondary pronunciation; the primary one is KAS-təl-ən, but compare the adjective “castellar” pronounced kas-TEL-er) The governor of a castle.