14 Stairs

There are 14 stairs in the house that grew me
Where we held hands and locked eyes
Blue on blue/brown
Reciting the ritual rhyme
On the step where we always stopped
And marked
The coming of the night.

There are 14 stairs in the house that grew me
Where I lay at night counting footfalls
That told to close my eyes
And feign sleep
As my father bowed and whispered
I love you forever
With tears on his tongue.

There are 14 stairs in the house that grew me
That keep watch when its guardians cannot
That ache and moan
And protest with each passage
Dutifully bearing the weight
Of words not yet
And never to be spoken.