Oh, the Cheery Melancholy... of Hotels (Day 12)

Oh, the cheery melancholy
of those restless resthouses
half-way homes, away from home

Come, check into these dens
you patrons of boredom, lust
and pay-per-view entertainment

Such privileged inmates
showered simulated warmth
impatiently, switching channels

You do not see yourselves
as the night does, shadows
in a flickering monster-screen

Feverish with life, then dead-still
each cell a pulsating peephole
to an unassuming dress rehearsal

A pitiable gallery of characters
pacing or seated, practicing lines
and fussing over their costumes

Each absorbed on various stages
curtains partially drawn or illumined
actors eagerly peering through

Onto an indifferent audience of trees
bare, and mapped out against the sky
like a nervous system

And snow flakes tumbling from above
as light and large as goose feathers
from a giant pillow fight.

© Yahia Lababidi

(Images: Pixabay 1, Unsplash 2)