the first time I went back it was night. the building was
still whole. my friend who had no connection

to the place came too. we had planned
to enter, not to steal but to take pictures, to see why

the fluorescent light in the kitchen was always on
but the door was locked. psychologists tell us

that when we pass through a doorway, our memories reset.
when I went the second time there was no longer door at all.

the building where I spent my first year of high school
was demolished in halves. I didn’t know

if it was abandoned when I returned. I was drawn into
a venn diagram of outdoor lights left on: green and white.

I almost knocked, but beyond the glass the hall
darkened as it deepened. a clock that hung within
                                     
are you restless too? take all the light in this room,
let it blend into a beam that breaks as you pass through.