Threshold
I look for an open door, but the door is in me and I am lost.
The door is freedom but fear is stronger. Always it is slamming shut.
I press my hand against the door made of stone and it does
not budge, yet on the other side I know is paradise.
I touch the door, made of maple, the micronutrients of its source
tree trying to flow again in between the cracks.
With gloved hand, I push open the carved door made of cedar
and a stranger says, “come in.” Who is this person in my house?
Eek!!!! I push open the brown-tinged, heavy steel door
and wonder what’s on the other side; maybe a secret garden?
So transparent, so honest, outside is always inside
with my glass door, my favorite! The door…. so tempting,
so tantalizing, yet I must remain inside. My red door, so welcoming,
a barrier protecting the UPS man from ‘vicious’ pups.
Two doors to my future, one red, one blue, with a sign that says,
“open me” and with a pill hanging by a string on each doorknob that says
“eat me.” The door is dark and pulsing. Beyond are the thick red walls,
warm and nourishing, of the womb in which the future will grow.
Doors are opening, says the MUNI bus, but to where? A surprise
awaits you on the other side. Knock knock. Who’s there? Luke.
Luke who? Luke In the peephole and come get your pizza.
My door is always open to those with need, even in these hard times.
Gun-metal gray those western clouds will swing open
allowing sunlight’s waltz over thresholds of brighter days.
When the winds whipped around the town, she rode the front door
like a surfboard, high above and far away, another world beckoning.
Fuzzy images peer through opaque glass framed in oak. Armed
with newspaper and vinegar I rub till the glass is clear.
What is in? What is out? The heavily crafted iron doorknob begs
to be turned, “Turn me around to see, turn me and I will turn you–inside out.”
I stand in the doorway, neither here nor there; a choice must be made—
I cannot linger in liminal limbo forever.
Original prompt: Doors – what do they look like and where do they go?
by Rakhi Shelat, Kris Lovekin, Shali Nicholas, Natalie Champion, Rick Champion, Julianna Cruz, Gudelia Vaden, Juanita Mantz, Elizabeth Faith Aamot, Ai Miyamoto Kelley, Doug McCulloh, Renee Mosher-Pierce, France Borella, Lynn Doiron, Debby Johnson, Burcu Misirli Chatham, Barbara Berg, Nan Friedley, Cati Porter
Inlandia: A Literary Journey 