L’esprit d’escalier (the spirit of the staircase)

The bitter words and screams and shouts
as they laid their grievances out
echoed off the very walls,
echoed down the empty halls.

Their clamor shook the wooden beams,
tempers whistling through the seams.
Their words and tempers were so crass,
they nearly cracked the windows’ glass.

They left no hurtful words unsaid
favoring their pride instead
as they tried to save face,
as they tried to leave that place.

Now the house stands, cold and bleak,
quiet but for every creak
of one who walks with teary eyes
for kindnesses unrealized.