if walls could talk, would children listen

friendly protectors
now maudlin tattletales
they can’t block

the cruel residue
of rough words
and brittle sobs

even though
someone has
kindly

papered them
with pink ponies
and rainbow clouds

the grotesque sounds
turning the dark walls
carnival scary









Allison Thorpe is the author of one book of poems and one chapbook. She has published in a variety of journals, some of which include The Citron Review, Green Mountains Review, Freshwater, Clapboard House, Front Range Review, Trickster, Dirty Chai, Lingerpost, Gravel Magazine, Apeiron Review, Foliate Oak Literary Magazine, Vine Leaves Literary Journal, and Connecticut River Review. She lives in Kentucky.