Nancy Scott

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The wretched house is doomed

to hear its miseries. Conversations
scuttle days searching for an argument.

At dusk, they settle near the hearth, nattering
like biddies - lipsticked mirror

before she slashed her wrists, the boy limp
in a closet, scuff marks on the door.

When he found them, he cursed
the house, torched it before the sirens.

On gusty nights, if you happen by,
you can hear charred rafters groan.

Nancy Scott is the author of Down to the Quick (2007) and One Stands Guard, One Sleeps (2009) published by Plain View Press; and A Siege of Raptors (2010) by Finishing Line Press. She is managing editor of U.S.1 Worksheets, the journal of the U.S.1 Poets' Cooperative in New Jersey. Her work has appeared in Journal of New Jersey Poets, Exit 13, Poet Lore, Slant, Mudfish, and many other literary journals. www.nancyscott.net