My Front Door: An Altar
- Lora Chilton
- Sep 17
- 1 min read
A poem by Lora Chilton
Waiting out the effects of the poison
(Administered to cure me)
A quiet ping from the front door camera.
Mustering the will to get off the sofa
A bouquet of yellow roses sits in silence
I smile reading the note.
Another day
Still hoping for this misery to pass
A basket of apples, cherries and grapes
And with it the words, “You are loved”
Tears fall for these offerings.
My front door has morphed into a sacred place.
In the coming days
My front door, now an altar, will receive:
Tortilla soup, blooming lilies, letters, cards,
A white linen blouse for this changed body.
The front door landing has become a liminal place
Sacred, mystical, healing
I step into life
At the altar of my front door.
Hear Lora read her poem:
Lora Chilton graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a B.S. in Nursing. After careers as a Registered Nurse, small business owner and holding elected office, Lora focused on her life-long desire to write. She has been published in The Daily Memphian, The Memphis Flyer and The Commercial Appeal. Her most recent book, 1666: A Novel, was published in 2024.
Read her essay, My Father's Secret, published in Certain Age November 2024.
Image:
Doorway by Galina Nelyubova