outside my midnight window the streets shine with rain the panes glitter with snowflakes the hum of passing cars vibrates the floor beneath my bare feet the lace sheet beneath my wrist scratches flower shadows stain the white walls a thick layer of dust coats the candlesticks, each flower petal, each jewel they are secrets they gleam and glitter only beneath the flash of passing headlights I sit alone in the dark room the mosquito netting sags around the bed wrapped in a veil - a secret heart a dusty film I am hidden I hide I never leave I never move dust coats me a cord of skeleton keys jingle in the hall beyond my closed door the floorboards groan the wind wheezes at the window I stare out at the moon blank-faced and tight-lipped, as always giving away nothing the smoke from my cigarettes forms clouds in the sky of my ceiling blue with glow in the dark stars down the dark road a river flows black it glitters with winter ice and golden windows reflections of the city shining on its shores and further still - the sea crashes against jagged rocks the sea too is black and empty the sea, the sky, the river, the road, the night at my window my room black and empty without you