no ghostless place
from every room hearts spoke
through walls too thin to hold
the weight of what they heard
so fires crept through spaces
long left soft and blurred
notes slipped under the doors
frozen to the floors
we believed everything
leaves blown beneath the eaves
whirring like a nest of wound-up starlings
we were young
we didn't need those things
if birds were singing then
we were loved
we were young
like the universe
like our mothers were
like these words