Death Mask

[Leanne]

Utterly gorgeous Keith, and with that "common touch" you'll be famous for one day

I've avoided reading other comments in order to react in an unbiased way, so I'm sorry if I say the same thing as has been said before (not super sorry though).

I wasn’t sure I would remember the house -- you could consider contracting to I'd, just for the sake of meter
an old photograph was all I had,
self seeded plants softened the cracks
but the driveway was still black and white.

Arthur’s skeleton opened the door, -- outstanding imagery
his face gouged like sculptors clay
thin lines under cheek bones
thumbed deep into eye sockets.

The meniscus of old age bottled his vision
but he still had a Whiskey gruffness
that reminded me of forgotten songs
and pearl inlays.

Pyjamas protruded from under his clothes
as he moved around the room to fall fireside,
touching each ledge like a child learning to walk, -- colon or em-dash needed here instead of the comma
stroke is such a gentle word. -- the multiple meanings of stroke work beautifully with these two lines together
The room had kept hold of its memory, -- perhaps consider The room had held onto its memory -- only because the harsh consonant sounds of kept jar me out of the soft reverie here
veneered in dust and damp that crept out of the carpet
slowly making it hard to see, hard to remember.

He spoke in bursts, bending each exhaled breath
to make the sounds.
he told me how much he missed my mother.
“She
was
my
baby
sister” -- I can hear the desperate pauses, the struggle to breathe around the words that are deliberately chosen as the most important to say.  This is well done.
I know I said and took his hand.
His old Jack Russell
lifted its head to sniff the air.
“He’s
fuckin
farted
again”
I know I said,
and let go of his hand. -- I love this ending.  I really like the fact that there's that edge of absurdity, and the reader could easily assume it was the dog talking instead