I Once Walked Around the House Upside-Down

A poem based on actual events

“Which One Is Upside Down” by JoLynne Martinez on Flickr. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

I once walked around the house upside-down,
the ceiling fan sprouting like an alien flower
from a diamond-encrusted field of snow,
coats craning on tippy-toe atop their hooks,
slabs of books hanging from dark shelves
like bats thick in their caves, dreaming;
and the frowny old man in the green painting
seeming to smile now, standing on his…