The Small Triangle of Light From the Hall

A thought appears in front of me
And I step back from it

But an idea strikes
And it is found upstairs in the closet
So it goes there to find it and breathes deeply
And there it is found a week later

Crouching with its weight pressed against the door
In the small triangle of light from the hall
A small mouse with damp cheeks
Squeaking softly about apologies
And it says

In here there is something far more complex
Far simpler than words
In here there is something far, far more distant
Than eyes or lips

"I am laughing because you make me happy," it says
"I am laughing because I know that I what I see in your eyes
Is a love deeper than either of us understands"
And about that it is right

Because whatever it was in the eyes that communicated that
I surely did not understand
I surely did not intend
But anyway
It is found in the closet upstairs
Where it weeps and whines
And I guess I'll put it this way

I used to think that everybody just wants to survive
That we are all just trying to live
But now
In the light from the hall
In this pathetic creature, I see
Nothing
Nothing at all