New Poetry by Darcy Mueller

Windows 

This room has no windows 

No above no below 

A single bulb dangles lazily 

Casing shadows on your face 

As it meets my eye 

But all I want is a window 

To let in the sky 

This room has only the tick of a clock 

Hung upon the wall 

There are no syllables uttered 

To break its constant dull 

But I want a window 

So I may feel the breeze 

This room has a chair 

In which neither of us sit 

To offer it to the other 

A small but honest gift 

But I just want a window 

To see the passers by 

Your voice, it has a stutter 

As you slowly walk near 

Though you always speak so clearly

These words, I cannot hear 

But I just want a window 

So it may be opened to the sounds 

And with noise of city cars 

May drown this quiet around 

Your hand it has a tremble 

And does not reach for mine 

It looks for something safe to touch 

Then fiddles with the time 

But I only want a window 

So I may breathe the air 

This room now has a silence 

With the clock now in your hands 

And this lonely silence 

To the walls expands 

Oh how I want a window 

So I may hear the sounds 

This room has no chair now 

As you sink into it slow 

My weary feet are aching 

But dont know where to go 

I wish for a window 

So I may sit upon the roll 

In a moment of rest 

Could my feet finally be still 

This room has a door 

That’s been opened but a foot 

But light seeps through it 

So I go and take a look 

I do not need a window 

To see the world outside 

For with this opened door 

The room now comes to light 

This room has a boy 

Who sits upon a chair 

When I look back at him 

He will not return my stare 

He does not want a window 

I did not know before 

That he does not want to see 

The outer world's allure 

This room has an emptiness 

As he does not answer my calls 

My voice floats around the room 

With naught to catch it when it falls 

But I do need a window 

In all the rooms I see 

I do need a window so that I may be free 

That room has a boy 

And he is all alone 

For I am forced to leave him 

I know I must go 

He will have no window 

And therein lies the shock 

For I have known him for many years 

But he is not the boy I thought 

So I shut the door behind me to leave him in the dark 

One lightbulb to guide him 

It nearly breaks my heart

But I must have a window 

For the world I want to see 

And if he will have no window 

Does he not wish to be free? 

- © Darcy Mueller 2022

Darcy Mueller is a second year student at Tufts University studying History and Italian who greatly enjoys writing in her free time. She is originally from Jackson Wyoming where she lives with her parents, two brothers, and sister.