Theres always lights on in my house A few dishes in the sink A pile of clothes here and there Some folded Some furrowed in baskets Hiding under beds You can find drawers of everything and nothing Half missing decks of cards, candy, broken crayons, photos flooded in boxes and albums of our lives You can find pieces of my mother Scrawled in notebooks from freedom times of her youth She would never tell you about Youll be greeted by a wriggley pug with shoe or couch cushion in mouth No, she will not stop kissing you Theres always food in my house Fancified labors of love Shoved in saved salsa jars Theres the old fireplace wrapped in wooden shelves and books and books and books Drafty walls meet creaky aching wood floors My house was warped with time The attic is twenty degrees hotter than the basement Likely from my pubescent years there Sleeping at night you can hear mice or birds or bats in the ceiling Scutterring a rhythm of cohabitated life Id beat on the walls Theres been renovations Live ins Move outs Break ins Move back ins Divorce Remarriage Dead plants fake plants and growing gardening My house is a changing ecosystem Bustling beside main street With a cemetary stare past the back yard Buried lives and versions of mine Youll find life and love history and family Holy hurt with Heart and soul Best thing is The doors always unlocked