holding

in every house
sorrow dwells
behind every door
in every house
there is a place
where sadness sleeps
in our house
my son's ventilator's
thrum and woosh
sets a rhythm
for a melancholy dance
into his room
out of his room
we bring liquid in
we take liquid out
clean linen in
soiled linen out
sterile dressings in
bags of garbage out
he breathes us in
we wait for him
to breathe us out
tubes go in
tubes come out
people come
people go
still
he has breathed us in
he will not breathe us out

in houses
everywhere
each day
people lie dying

we who live
inside them
also die
a little
every
day