Night in the Portrait Gallery of My Ancestors

The dead watch me
as I walk down the hall

I hear them whisper
among themselves
mournful, mindful
urgent or ironic
I cannot tell

when I turn
to look
mist gathers
behind my eyes
and they are still, silent,
poised within their frames

waiting…

 

This is a quadrille (poem composed of forty-four words) for dVerse Poets Pub.  De also asked us to include some form of the word “whisper” in our piece.