Clear like the Sky

Tuesday morning. Same building. Same hall. Same door. Done it a hundred times. …Today was different. Walked in like I owned the place, familiar ground Keys in my pocket, coffee in my hand, no sound The hallway stretched ahead, the same as every day Nothing out of the ordinary — nothing in the way The door was there, it's always there, I know this door Pushed it open every morning, a hundred times before Except today somebody cleaned it, spotless, crystal bright Clear like the sky on a perfect cloudless night Didn't see it coming, didn't see it at all One step, then impact — (BOOM!) — Full stop against the wall The coffee survived — somehow — a miracle of fate The door did not apologize — the door felt great The sound echoed down the hall, a beautiful disaster Time slowed down completely, then resumed much faster I stepped back, straightened up, looked at what I hit A perfectly clean door — not a mark on it Clear like the sky, clear like the sky So clean you can't see it until you feel it Clear like the sky, nobody warned me right I walked into the void on a Tuesday morning light Clear like the sky, the door won today I had a hundred witnesses and nothing left to say Clear like the sky, crystal, clean, and bright The most dangerous door I've ever met in my life The hallway wasn't empty, I registered that now Six people minimum, all watching, wondering how A grown adult walked confidently into glass With the certainty of someone with no reason to pass One person looked away — respect — I noted that One person coughed — too fast — I noted that One person bit their lip with the focus of a saint Holding back a laugh with everything they can Then someone in the back — the weakest link — cracked first A single snort escaped and broke the dam that burst One by one the hallway lost its battle with the scene Six humans laughing at the cleanest door they'd seen I laughed too — what else could I do When the door's that clean and the audience that true But somewhere deep inside a trauma had been born A relationship with glass forever bruised and torn Clear like the sky, clear like the sky So clean you can't see it until you feel it Clear like the sky, nobody warned me right I walked into the void on a Tuesday morning light Clear like the sky, the door won today I had a hundred witnesses and nothing left to say Clear like the sky, crystal, clean, and bright The most dangerous door I've ever met in my life …The bruise healed in three days. The memory did not. Every door after that was a suspect. Every clean surface — a potential ambush. I started looking for the smudges. The fingerprints. The proof that a door existed. No smudges meant danger. Clean meant invisible. Clean meant the door had been waiting. …Just like that one. …On Tuesday. Two weeks later, different building, different hall New door ahead, and I remembered the fall Slowed my pace unconsciously, scanned for the frame Looking for the edges — nothing looks the same Is that a door? Is that a wall? Is that just air? A reflection? A window? Something's there I reached out slowly, hand extended wide Testing reality before I stepped inside The person behind me walked straight through with ease No hesitation, no fear, no expertise Just walked right through like doors are always there I watched in awe at someone who still dared Clear like the sky, clear like the sky I walk with my hand out now, I don't know why Clear like the sky, nobody warned me right I test every surface before I trust the light Clear like the sky, the door won that day But I adapted, I evolved, I found a way Clear like the sky, crystal, clean, and bright Hand extended forward — just in case — goodnight They cleaned the door again last week. I saw them do it. Watched the whole thing. Nodded at the door directly. We have an understanding now. …I still use my hand. …Every time. …Just in case. … …It was clear like the sky.