the formal room · for guests we no longer have
no one sits here often. the chair is dressed for occasions that
were last held when the wallpaper was fashionable. a thin film of
indeterminate matter proves this without saying so.
the clock has been wound by the custodian alone for years.
a visitor from sometime last decade left a card; it is still on
the small table. through the doorway you can see the kitchen
doing its more important work.