The rug

Between the blue couch and the black-and-white photo,
which has replaced the future of the wall, is the fireplace;
the mantel much lower than you remembered.
Gray spills out onto the floor; what you thought
was a shag rug covering the entire floor is really
ashes. You kneel down to touch the ash and it evaporates.
The rug’s shaggy threads blister into flowers.
You step back into the hallway where stairs offer another itinerary
: steps carpeted in rugs braided from old clothes and night—
embers flick and flame