Closet Doors

I hear him running
through the basement
Up and down the stairs
But every time I go to look
there’s never anybody there

The sound of a child footsteps
awakens me
haunts me
the closet door slams

I have no children
and no child lives next door
In fact my closest neighbor
is nearly a mile away

Every night
the child is running through the house
and seems to be afraid

One night
I hear a knock
upon my bedroom door

Although, I’m mortified
I open the door just the same

No one is there
but I sense
a presence near

I walk into the living room
and turning on a light
I see a shadow suddenly appear

It’s of a small child
I think,
although, I'm not quite sure

There’s a storm outside
and
a strange mist fills the air

I sit down to read the paper
but the article
is one
written many years before

It’s about the death in this very house
of a small little boy

The murderer
chased him
up and down the stairs

The child was so young
and didn’t know what to do
so
he locked himself
inside the closet

and created his own tomb

The name of the child was withheld
but
I know his name

Sometimes I believe the murderer
was I?
but
I know the truth is worse
for you see
the child was me

Life is a lie
and our own death
is something
we’ve seen
thousands of times or more