Doors bang and voices shout.

Harsh footsteps tread the bare timber stairs

Downstairs a door slams shut

Somewhere a dog barks

A car revs up and drives away

Its exhaust unashamedly roaring into the night.

While upstairs

Shabbily sprawled across the bed

Lies Katya

Drenched in sweat and shame

Thinking of a faraway home

And where it all went wrong.

San Martín de los Andes, 

October 2022