The Room, Grandfather, Lulu, and I

A small study lamb,
a tea cup with sharpened lead pencils
(number two),
 polished wooden panels:
walls dressed in masks
 (African vodun mugs).

An old stone fireplace with
portrait of colored girls
dancing above stained hardwood mantel.

Lulu, with a mind as dull as the room,
hung her thoughts out for scrutiny.
Shadows waltz in faint glow,
and smell send eyes searching
and minds speculating
about smudges on worn carpet.

From the door,
dark antique table stood smug,
on feline's legs, in a corner to the left.
Grandfather clock with pendulum,
a tongue that utters time.

A gem tells of certainty,
and minds were compelled and led captives,
but Lulu and her tactless wit
could never fathom why grandpa ran.

Grandfather ran when liberty summoned,
and this room expresses a life
that is far too deep for her to clutch.