The Wallpaper Specter
by Alex Price
Have you ever seen
the wallpaper specter
lurking in the corner of your eye
He watches at a distance
scurrying away at risk of discovery
but always there, nonetheless
Don't be frightened though
he means no harm
he is more curious than anything
He watches and waits
sits and ponders
unable to move away
from the wallpaper
Sometimes I sit next to him
and talk
he never speaks, but he listens
Until the day I ask him,
"Why?"
To which he turned and spoke,
"This is my home."
He spoke simply and naively
"A wallpaper is no home."
I said to him
To that he simply shrugged
and sank further into the wall
So if you ever see
the wallpaper specter
be kind and gentle
for he knows not
that home is not
where you start
but it is
where you end up