Morgan Liphart won Honorable Mention in the Scary Art Show Poetry Contest (Dublin Arts Collective, curated by Viewless Wings), with her poem “What Happened in Room 210 of the Haunted Stanley Hotel”.
What Happened in Room 210 of the Haunted Stanley Hotel
by Morgan Liphart
At the edge of the bed, I found a note:
“What have you done?”
What have I done
by agreeing to sleep in this place?
Though it’s only for a respite
from scratching my way
through mountains on snowshoe trails.
I rustle beneath my oversized t-shirt—
now a slick of sweat beneath it.
I can’t stay.
The pipes buzz and gurgle
underneath 1909 plaster walls.
A waterfall of laughter
comes from the other side
of the heavy oak door.
I stand.
Then nudge my feet into snow boots
as the planks whimper beneath my weight.
I’m waiting.
Listening.
The room is an empty cold
despite turning up the thermostat to 71
only to see it drop down again and again
as if the room itself wanted no company.
What happened here?
I spill through my door,
now out in the tender open
of the scarlet draped hallway.
And there she is—
the one I’ve been expecting,
the scariest shadow
reflected back at me
in this slick face of a mirror.
This is enough
to run a jolt through my bones
because I know
the thing most capable of hurting me,
the master of my own suffering
is myself.
Hear Morgan Liphart, and the other selected poets, read their poems on The Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast:
Viewless Wings Scary Poetry Contest Winners Read by the Poets – Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast
Submit your polished poetry for the opportunity of being published on ViewlessWings.com and being interviewed on The Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast.
Morgan Liphart’s work has appeared in anthologies and journals across the United States and England, such as the University of Oxford’s Literary Imagination, The Comstock Review, and Third Wednesday. When she’s not writing, Morgan enjoys her career as an attorney and adventuring in the wild spaces surrounding her home in Denver. Her favorite Halloween costume of all-time was her costume as a squirrel that her mother sewed for her in 2nd grade, complete with a paper mâché acorn.
Morgan’s debut poetry chapbook, Barefoot and Running topped several bestselling lists and has brought healing and comfort to readers worldwide.
