A Knock at the Door

Just when I thought I had wept my last

My shadow returns

Like a door-to-door salesman

Who will not take no for an answer

     finally wheedling his way in

And not leaving until he makes a sale

No matter how little it can be afforded

"I will not let this happen again" I say,

But I am never the one who answers the door

And the advice is:

Don't let him leave

Until you get some gift from him

Even as his hands tighten around your throat,

   squeezing the life out of you

Demand he gives you something before he leaves

"Just as fire can destroy, so it can also purify"

Demand a lesson from the strangulation

Demand from this dog that mauls you

                   the location of his bones.