Threshold – Katherine Fallon

Early, in our separate rooms,

        we were wrong to believe

in a middling, an I, the illusion 

        of self within the chimera

of family. When he lifted our doors

        from their hinges, he punished us

not only with being seen, but with

        admitting, at last, to influence.

Being mirrors, it was impossible

        to be children. Impossible, too,

to mature. I come to you now,

        seeking all I once

renounced: mainly, open doors,

        though finally, I’d rather

no doors at all.

        Sister, I remain—

Katherine Fallon’s chapbook, The Toothmakers’ Daughters, is available through Finishing Line Press, and her full-length collection, Gold Star, is forthcoming from Eyewear Publishing. She shares domestic square footage with two cats and her favorite human, who helps zip her dresses. She can be found at katherinefallon.com or @ghostelephants on IG.