[dVerse] May 7th - The Fog Has My House Keys

The Fog Has My House Keys

The fog comes in
like it has been here before.

Not dramatically.
No doorbell.
No throat-clearing at the gate.
No screaming.
No door-slamming.

Just a soft trespass
over the balcony railing,
through the laundry clips,
past the basil plant
that has seen too much
and says nothing.

By midnight,
the buildings lose their surnames.

The streetlights become
small government offices
processing applications
for disappearance.
Outside, men in uniform guide
dispossession in a line.

Even the stray dog
below my window
forgets his argument
with the moon.

I stand there,
holding a cup of tea
gone cold from wilful neglect,
and watch the world
misplace itself politely.

There is mercy in this. (Please...)

How kindly the fog
edits the city,
removing sharp edges,
pending bills,
unanswered messages,
the exact shape
of my own face
in the glass.

For a few minutes,
I am not required
to be clear.

Not daughter.
Not employee.
Not woman definitely.
Not a worker
with a calendar full
of practical weather.

Only breath.

Only blur.

Only some small animal
passing through the chest,
quiet-footed,
unclaimed,
already leaving.

~ Oizys.

Written for dVerse Open Link Night #407. Inspired by their given optional mini prompt from Carl Sandburg’s Fog, especially the line “The fog comes on little cat feet.”

[dVerse] May 5th - Names I Did Not Answer To

Names I Did Not Answer To

By midnight,
all my old selves had gathered
outside the locked door.

Restless came first,
barefoot, carrying a suitcase
full of unsent apologies.

Then Ebb Tide,
who knew exactly
when to leave a room
and make it look
like drowning.

Desdemona wore white,
not for innocence,
but because grief stains better
on honest cloth.

No Surrender laughed
from the staircase,
mouth full of thunder,
heart full of municipal paperwork.

I almost opened the door.

But Peace arrived late,
as usual,
with cold hands
and no explanation.

Behind her,
White Wings folded themselves
into the corridor light.

And for once,
none of my names
asked to be forgiven.

They only stood there,
breathing,
as if survival
was also a kind
of fragrance.

~ Oizys.

Used prompt names: Restless, Ebb Tide, Desdemona, No Surrender, Peace, White Wings
Avoided word: rose
Written for dVerse Poetics - “Names of the Rose,” May 5, 2026. The prompt asked us to use at least five names from a list of rose varieties, without using the word “rose.”
Linky widget expired by the time I could post it. Hope someone sees it. Someone reads it.