Home

A deep blue darkness blankets the evening Drawing me toward sleep, away from today Peace is there where I am able to stop. This is Home. The word itself, seems to construe a sound The very which evokes strong feelings H o m u h Home is a place of the feelings it houses. I’ve seen Home as it stands to people and animal alike A lizard emerges from a hole in the wall He and his girl, my wall their Home, My lizard tenants now for years Could he speak, he’d implore of my dog Chipper “Don't even try to reach us Here in our Home.” Two doves in my backyard tree Felt at ease and fancied a nest up there “It’s safe to raise a family where the hawk won’t see us” Home now three not two, as Home fulfills a duty (Chipper sits staring wantonly) Chipper and Molly have a Home Of which they are fiercely protective But it stops at the front window Luckily for the delivery man, who has a Home-- Maybe he does not know Home yet, in his youth You see, it takes a while to realize, That our house blossoms into our Home Through friends, neighbors, cocktail parties, emotions, temporary family refuge, daily chores, nightly dinner, big and small events, adding on, dogs barking, dogs … departing, tender moments, traumatic news and other surprises, trips away then coming back. All rolled up in our house. That makes it Home. When I am away from Home Sometimes part of it comes with me, For Home is a state of mind, and May be embodied in a person. Which reminds me of that time Tammy left me a voice message Her utterance carried such a forlorn revelation “I just want to come H o m u h” …. I kept that message as long as I could Pounding myself with it whenever I felt I’d let her down Because I had Sent her away from Home, Alone. A Home is fragile, and must be nurtured, protected Because home is indeed not just a place Like a wife or a companion Home is a person, Without whom you can be homesick When that happens you become homeless. Right. There. In. Your own house. When part of your Home is somehow lost, Home may be destroyed, and never complete again Like if Chipper caught the lizard Or the hawk nabbed the mama dove Or you failed your wife. Like I did that time. The remaining Home parts are set adrift Meanwhile, the home is too quiet, tears, anguish, fear … depression may prevail Home, for a time seems a foreign place Exacting the price we pay For not living our lives as stones But if you are lucky enough And have time enough, Home may return to settle upon you And that deep blue darkness may return to blanket the evening And have again, at least for a time, Home.