Half Closed
By, Melissa R. Mendelson

It’s easy to not look past
your front door
and forget that the world
is out there,
begging to be heard.
We drive half asleep,
locked on auto pilot,
and all we see
is the day that stretches out before us.
We only see the world when it breaks,
when the news screams,
and when lives are lost.
Realization steals us from comfort,
and we are forced to look.
And then suddenly…
It’s not so easy to close the door
and forget the world.
It’s not so easy to drive in oblivion
with ghosts chasing the rearview mirror.
Our eyes must stay open,
but we fall asleep.
We close the door,
and then suddenly…
It is easy again.
Forget.
Sleep.
Sleep one more moment,
and hope that all these problems
of this world
fade far away.