Isn’t a home warm and welcoming?
Safe and soothing?
A home is good food,
And heartfelt laughter.

But each river has two banks,
One could be the perfect beach,
But on the other,
Mud and dirt await.

Sleeping in that room gives me nightmares,
Conversations are always arguments.
Home is a spider web I’m trapped in,
But never quite sure If I should escape.

One day they’re all teasing and tickle fights,
Smiles bubbling to the surface in my mom’s homemade chicken soup.
The next their faces contort,
Disapproval filling their countence.

Home is warm blankets while we watch movies,
All huddled together,
Hot chocolate at the ready.
But home is also a room I lock myself in,
Running from their yelling.

Home is secrets kept between sisters,
Whispered to eager ears.
Or surviving a bus ride together,
While sharing our music.

But home is also a bus ride away,
An eternity of mockery,
And name calling.
Of music to block out their voices.

Cold one day,
Warm the next,
My family is my home.