pretty thing
in the long quiet of homes
once left unoccupied for hours
a settling pricks peripheral
the backwards hand
sweet veil of semblance
circles in circles in circles
a time a long time drawn
a veil an occupied semblance
long hours of hands pricked
for hours peripheral
in circles drawn home
and backward she walks
in occupied mirror
Pretty Thing is a short film project that Sable created for Inanimate 48 in 2021, where it received two honorable mentions from judges. The piece was inspired by an NYT report of increased ghost sightings in 2020, a haunting Anne Carson quote, and the indelible atmosphere of Oz Perkins’ I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House.
