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Martin Willitts, Jr.
The Spirit House
1.
Land cruises by the hand-
made house forged forward
resisting brakes
the house decides where it belongs
it lifts up & rotates
so the front door is in the back
facing the orange sunrise
blocked by the high pumpkin hills
2.
the neighbors insist:
cows cannot milk
chicken lay rotted eggs
the land sighs
the house assembled itself
& has a forbidding personality
3.
house shifts impatiently
over its root cellar
searching for shade
neighbors complain:
it just got a mind of its own
it appears square as a postage stamp
upon closer inspection
the corners are slightly rounded
like heels
the wood is not from here
in fact, not from anywhere
foreign to woods & it glows
the trim seems to be icicles
the windows have wrinkles & cataracts
& blink tiredly
it clears the throat of the chimney
wells are bloodstained
4.
a stranger was just passing through
when his wagon wheel turned into dust
this is where he decided to build
deciding this was God’s work & land
he had no understanding with tools
but experience was not required
if he need a hole, it appeared shoveled
if he needed walls, a saw ghostly cut
and no nails were required
he never needed a plan
he just believed it was all God’s plan
& it just happened
casual as prayer & useless as a wagon wheel
5.
spirits, he proclaimed
to any that would listen
some shook their disbelieving heads
some concluded he was deluded & insane
some kept their opinions to themselves
close as a gambler with a winning hand
some laughed at the suggestion
but slept with one eye open, just in case
6.
spirits, the neighbors respond, haunted
I do not how it was built
but it sure was not with human hands
spirits do what they want to do, warns
the blacksmith whose forge no longer heats
when the pastor proclaimed to his congregation
there was no such things as spirits,
his pulpit burst into flames & his face melted
you cannot tell spirits what to do
whispered the widow whose hair fell out
as she passed too close to the spirit house
spirits are unpredictable, says the only store owner,
but profitable with tourists & such
otherwise all I would be is a bait shop
7.
the spirits ain’t speaking to me
they are giving me the silent treatment
spirits do that sometimes
sometimes they don’t
8.
during the late 1880’s Spiritualism was popular
people paid handsomely for communication
with their beloved, sometimes with mixed results
sometimes the spirits were the wrong gender
or did not recognize the living
or refused to speak or in gibberish
the spiritualist is not responsible for these errors
once the spirits inhabit their body
or the Ouija board spells poorly
9.
the front door opens
& every time something is different behind it:
a brick wall;
a pantry with carnival glass & fine crystal goblets
near a harmonium and a vase of bluebells;
the kitchen with sliced homemade bread
and a kettle of stew beef with tomatoes
and celery on the chopping board
and knife from Oneida silverworks
sharp as a cook’s tongue;
the master bedroom with the sheets tight as secrets
as the wall are wallpapered with tears;
or you find yourself staring at yourself
like a full length mirror
and you barely recognize yourself
in formal dinner clothes and bowler hat
10.
The house spins like a potter’s kick-wheel
as it evolves into a great snowy white owl
it wheels over the gingham colored fields
shedding feathers as snow flakes
blanketing the area with impossible snow
high enough to strand cattle
deep as a cough of interruption
a rut of tracks disappearing
making everything ghostly white
mute as unanswered prayers
11.
Arthur Conan Doyle believed in spirits
& tried to explain them rationally
investigating clairvoyants with Holmes logic
that anything remaining must be the truth
& hoping to again speak to his departed wife
just a taste of her lipstick on his cheek
Houdini tried to debunk the charlatans
exposing how tables levitate
apparitions had no mystical properties
and tea leaves are merely stains in a cup
as he walk through walls like porous brick walls
a skeleton key hidden indented under his heel
neither man could prove or disprove anything
the house grinning at their frustration
they would never be the same afterward,
Houdini drowning in his own magic
Doyle unable to write except to kill off his creation
Holmes falling into an abyss of a waterfall
Strange isn’t it how connected things are
How spirits work strangely & without conscious
12.
The house returns as an afterthought
No one dares cross the threshold
No one wants to talk about this
Silence is fields of eyes on Cortland Apples
Stillness is the door without a doorknob
The house frightens the land
©2007 by Martin Willitts, Jr.
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The Spirit House is a modified 1840 - 1885: Italianate. It has the rectangle shape with a flat roof. It does not have a square cupola (An ornamental structure placed on the top of a larger roof). It also does not have a porch topped with balconies, or side bay windows. It is located in a small town called Georgetown , New York .
Martin Willitts, Jr. is a Senior Librarian.
His recent publications include Falling In and Out of Love by Pudding House Publications (2005),
Farewell: the journey now begins www.langaugeandculture.net (2006), The Secret Language of the Universe
March Street Press (2006), and Lowering Nets of Light Pudding House Publications (2008). For more
information see his Web site.
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