Instead, you are standing in the middle of an empty room.
The woman says, the neighbors mostly keep to themselves.
She says, you don’t need to walk far to get a ride.
Consider the appeal of the view. The cat looking out, the cables at eye level.
Consider the word appeal: attraction, urgent request.
The woman says, we never have problems with water. Your eyes on the floor.
With a little polish, she says, it should be like new.
Instead, you imagine the lamp in this room, its absence in another.
Consider the subtraction of after: aftertaste, afterthought.
More than enough space for one, she says.
Enough, you think. If only, compliment. If only, command.
