“Soul Trained”
Most afternoons,
the place held its usual quiet,
the kind that settles
when you’re the one
turning the lock from the inside.
You’d drop your bag by the heater,
let the screen take up its post,
steady voice filling the room
like a light left on for whoever needed it.
He’d close the show
the same way every time—
a line shaped to meet you at the frame,
marking the edge of the room
without pushing you through it.
And as always in parting,
we wish you love, peace, and soul.
That was the moment—
the house paused, waiting
to see which way you’d go.
Then the click as the set went dark,
the room folding back
into its usual shape.
You’d step out,
down the narrow stairwell
that carried
every footfall
from the building,
its railing cool under your hand,
evening air rising to meet you
as you pushed through
the side gate—the metal giving
a short, tired rattle as it
settled back into place.
.