Manual for Leaving the Light On

Leave one lamp on.

Not for the burglars—
not for the saints,
not for the small electrical god
who counts the house at midnight.

Leave it on for the room
that cannot sleep without a witness.

Put the cup beside the kettle.
Fold the chair back from the table.
Do not wash the second glass.

Some absences need evidence.

At two, the hallway will look
longer than it is.
The floorboards will practise
your name in their old language.

Do not answer every sound.

The fridge will startle itself.
A car will turn at the corner.
The pipes will remember winter.

Let the dark keep its dark.

You are not required
to become a lighthouse.
You are only asked
to make one small room
visible from the next.

If they return, let them knock.

If they do not,
the light will hold
the shape of the doorway
without pretending
that anyone is coming through.