opening the windows 

you should at least once a winter
open all the windows of the house.
let the old ghosts out & the new
ghosts in. i am not ready for the cold
but i am i child i cycles. all my homes
have had thin walls by which 
i mean the birds fly right through us.
pigeons & geese & once a flock
of bats heading toward the moon.
i have a bad habit of locking myself in.
in one apartment i nailed my window shut.
the next, i bought two sets of curtains.
i cocoon somewhere between stubborn
& survive. i don't know what will
& won't hurt me anymore so i pill bug.
my skin is tissue paper used to wrap
a vase. i find a glass man in the yard.
he is a patron of the through people.
a sewing thread around my ankle.
soon we will light the hearth again. 
feed it my own glass teeth & watch them
melt. tiny portals. the feathers the birds
leave behind. when i shut each window
one at a time i hear the fresh spirits
taking off their shoes. washing their faces
in the bath after a long trip
through the sycamore branches
& the corn drying in the fields.