On Making A Home

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growing up we played hopscotch on the globe
different cities, different states, different countries
living in houses
leaving when they became home

and my father,
well he loved anything
and everything
priced below a hundred bucks at best buy
even though they’d all end up in cardboard boxes
abandoned in basements or storage closets

my mother loved her pots and pans
the knife set we bought at Walmart for $30
her colorful saris that filled up the almirah
and every plant she’d ever set her eyes on

and while they surrendered all of those things
somehow fate had it that neither of them
could let go of our leather sofa set
I guess that’s why it kept finding its way
to our many living rooms
even ten years through the test of time

I didn’t quite see it then
but they taught me this indispensable lesson
over and over again

if you’re making a home for yourself
let your bones be your pillars
your skin cement and brick
let the dwelling lie
an inch below the left side of your rib cage
where the heart is