Refusal

An offer lowered,
pared back to bone,
a voice asking:
let me in.

But the door shut
on another promise
a word already given,
a vow not broken.

Divide the world,
you paint the skies,
they draw the faces.
Still no.

Silence returns,
again the plea,
again the refusal.

Need presses,
stone holds.
Two griefs.
One answer.

No.