A Safe House by Dora Kelly

by Dora Kelly

There were no spare keys
They weren’t needed.
No reason for bolt or chain
The door could not be locked,
A table shared, family & so
A knock, a look, a note
to be dispatched.

An unimaginable turning
of the clock,
Quietly ticking in the corner
The silence of the secret
That rang like a bell in your head.
But never heard aloud.

Was it a wasted effort? the pride,
the passionate dream, heroic end. Perhaps.

I always felt safe in my house.

Reproduced with kind permission of the author. Dora Kelly is a member of the Fatima Poetry Vigilantes. This poem was composed in a Poetry as Commemoration workshop led by Catherine Ann Cullen in July 2022.