Muffled sounds
reveal that something is going on:
a dull, threefold knocking,
disguised within rooms, wall insulation & floors –
a few restrained seconds that come to a halt
and listen

It may be a coughing water trap
in the mysterious, ghostly plumbing system
that creeps unseen behind walls & beneath floors,
betraying the presence of a human being, once conceived,
who opens & closes a water tap

Therefore, in all probability,
by virtue of this,
there is a human being in the world,
beyond myself

Meanwhile, a staircase is on its way up to me,
from the hallway below,
in an elegant half-spiral;
forever on its way –
but always turning back at the top,
and going down,
only to turn on its heel
at the bottom step,
and climb again,
and immediately head back down

I let it carry on