How to Hide

for J.P.

Get out of bed and find the good

scissors. The red ones.

Go out to the porch.

Take down all of the wind-

chimes. Dismember them.

Go back inside. Open

the closets. Bring out

all the jackets and shoes.

Tie up every lace and string

until there are only perfect

bows. Put it all away

and pry open the pendulum

clock. Remove the weights.

They'll make good bookends. 

Go to the window. Let down

the blinds and then snip off 

the extra cord. Do this in every room.

Consider buying darker curtains,

not because you no longer love

light, but because you never know

what will cast a swinging shadow.

             Ellie White, 2018

(First published by Melancholy Hyperbole, 2014)

The Addams Family home
Photo by Karl Kuntz
Source: The Addams Family
Otterbein University Theater and Dance
from Wikimedia Commons