house of secrets

behind every wall there is a tree in every tree there is a bird every bird has a beak every beak taps at a window behind every window there is a secret sometimes the curtain is drawn and the bird can not see in the window so it returns to the tree and waits finally a hand appears and draws back the curtain and a face appears behind every face there is a secret behind the face another face appears the face of a maid every maid has an announcement besides having a secret the maid says her piece and the curtain is drawn again and the bird sits in the window and waits every house behind every wall has guests and every guest has secrets the guest tired of waiting for the mistress to appear and afraid of inadvertently revealing his secret retires to the lawn the guest stands under the tree behind the wall he is too well bred to look up at the window but he wonders about the secrets of the mistress (and the maid) he lights a cigar and the smoke rises to the branch the bird is sitting on and the bird flies away