emphasis added

the plaster walls chip and crack
and breath dust in and out like
the sweat of summer

it creeps, it creeps and seeps
down the seams, the cracks,
the jagged jutting edges and worn sills,

and blistered peeling paint flakes
catch what they can,
filling their pock pockets plenty

specks of life and lies, reminders of
insects, skin, and fibers from
every conceivable fashion, fad, and phantom

oily old ear pressed outlines glimmer,
cold for the sounds of ghostly echoes
from the inside facing out,

all giving way to time's crack and crumble
into the debris that climbs and clings
at the edge, as we are, as we do.