Exiles by Rob Schackne
It took seven years to build the box
From discarded paper and dreams
As deep as it is wide, at times you forget
Exactly how you decided its dimensions
No candy store, no Chinese restaurants
Many a stained-glass window at the top
Everything is blue when the sun pours in
Deli, record store, a massage parlour
Open all night, oddly buzzing, no customers
There's a very good small library
Of books you always meant to study
Furniture copied from another tidy book
A fireplace that heats but doesn't burn
A few students were allowed in once
They dusted off their prints and fled
On the inside an ornate exit with a sign
That reads Don't Leave Till You're Ready
Next to it a fire axe, a cheap suit on a hook
Today that box is almost empty
Outside is a sunset and birds. Art by David Hettinger Recommended listening: Come Alive - The Jezabels (More than the song, check out the video with oil paint on glass, animated frame by frame!) Links of the Day: This Google Doc is a global art project The hidden life of hotels The Unexpected Story of How Ecommerce Started Dear My Blank