If My Heart was a House

If My Heart was a House

home home home home
its never been a house
its been my childhood
my toddler years

my grandfather planted pine trees that were knee high twenty years ago
and now they are thirty feet tall

out of the tulips my parents planted twenty years ago
all have faded away
except for one yellow bloom that surprises us every year
one blink of yellow enveloped in pink azaleas

my bed
so warm

there are lead markings on the doorsills ranging from shuen at age 8: 3'3" to shuen at age 16: 5'3" with an occasional playmate's height thrown in
that nick in the kitchen wall made by our rabbits
the same chair we were rocked to sleep in as babies now in a different corner

every nook and cranny i know the story of
ask me and the stories will evolve every way because there is no end to these tales
hidden until reminded by those markings in the wall

i think that despite all of our shenanigans and cries to be set free
we will always want to return to the nest
yeah, its great that we fly everywhere
explore the world
and want that irrepressible freedom

but to be able to walk into a familiar place is heaven

i've never missed home this much before
home---such a beautiful word