The Mansion

An older woman is like
a big ancient mansion,
a wary ghost watching
out a window. And high,
the iron fencing hides
the garden from curious
strangers who dare to
climb it. An older woman,
the retired beauty of
a dry red rose pressed
carefully in a book,
a star that manages to pierce
the blackening distance
over the mansion's roof,
blinks, then fades away.