The Language of Absence

"Slowly the darkness drains away the sunlight.
Drawn homeward to their nests, the crows fall silent.
And now the owl sits in the hollow tree,
Bolder, neck sunk inside his body,
And stares; swivels his head; and stares..."
-Bhartrhari

"It is my house, and yet one room is locked.
The dark has taken root on all four walls.
It is a room where knots stare out from the wood,
A room that turns its back on the whole house.

At night I hear the crickets list their griefs
And let an ancient peace come into me.
Sleep intercepts my prayer, and in the dark
The house turns slowly round its one closed room. "
- Kevin Hart, ‘The Room’