by Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor
The doors between our two houses opened
like the unexpected pop of a pinecone on fire
releasing seeds into the air.
Few have the courage or desire
to step through
to discover chambers,
well-lit hallways filled with music,
whispered secrets, lush delights.
I meant to close the door.
Your hand grasped the brass knob.
Over your shoulder, a hall carved of dark wood,
draped in velvet. Maps rolled on shelves,
pinned on walls. Incense wafted toward me.
At the threshold, your smile,
your eyes inviting, and yet
the gap between our doors remained.
What was once a bit of lawn barely two steps wide
became a veld, a green vastness, yet
dry like a field plowed under.
You would not step across.
The scent of cedar and patchouli faded
as you shut your door.
I cannot trace that instant when I stood alone
reaching, grasping air, my fingers fluttering against the wind
to touch the lintel of your home.
Did I imagine this moment?
Did I simply fling the door of my own chambers wide
to find a missing house, an empty space,
no trace of your passing?
Wind stirs dust and dirt outside,
an aching whistle through my rafters
I mistake for your voice.
Suspended, I stand at the entrance waiting,
even though I know you will not return, even though
I know your journey across this threshold
is one you cannot track on any map you keep
in that wooden chamber,
dead forest carved and cold
as a desert night.
Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor’s (she/they) non-fiction, poetry, and short fiction have appeared in print and online in several journals and anthologies including Katipunan Literary Magazine, Kuwento: Small Things, and Beyond Lumpia, Pansit, and Seven Manangs Wild: An Anthology. Her poetry chapbook Pause Mid-Flight was released in 2010. She is also the co-editor of True Stories: The Narrative Project Vol. I-IV, and her poetry and essays have been collected in Dancing Between Bamboo Poles. She has been performing as a storyteller since 2006 and specializes in stories based on Filipino folktales and Filipino-American history.
Rebecca’s short story “Driving Home” was featured in Special Issue ’25 After Dark.