Instructions for The House Nobody Knows
for carrying grief through a strange house
Touch a door that does not claim importance.
Knock once.
If nobody answers, enter anyway.
*
Bring nothing shiny.
Bring nothing meant for trade.
Grief dislikes bargaining.
*
Pass rooms holding voices left behind.
Some speak hunger.
Give bread.
Some speak filth.
Give water.
Some speak hurt.
Stay near until breathing steadies.
*
Continue onward.
Paths will narrow.
Names may pull at your sleeves.
Do not follow names.
*
A field waits ahead.
Dark animals watch.
They know routes.
Let them walk near, never ahead.
*
If a woman asks memory, give memory.
If a child asks truth, give truth only once.
If an old man asks story, listen longer than you want.
*
Water blocks travel.
Cross slowly.
Do not boast.
Do not confess.
Silence pays fare.
*
Something watches from above.
If gift offered, accept.
Keep it hidden.
Every gift carries cost later.
*
Grief teaches uneven lessons.
Giants fall asleep during confidence.
Hunters miss targets while bragging.
Monsters guard soft places badly.
*
Remember name.
Say it when fear grows clever.
Say it again when hope feels thin.
*
Return same route.
Debts settle themselves.
Kindness circles back.
Danger loses interest.
*
Do not rush ending.
Home appears smaller.
That means growth happened.
*
Step through doorway.
Close it gently.
*
Grief follows rules
when treated like guest,
not enemy.
About the Creator
Tim Carmichael
Let your becoming be louder than your fear, and your smallest steps become the road you once thought impossible to walk. An Appalachian poet and cookbook author my book Beautiful and Brutal Things is on Amazon, Link 👇
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