The Meaning of Home

What Home Means to Me I was built by a young man who built many others like me. One day he returned This time with a furry dog and his family. For each other, they would give the world. The two boys and their little sister Played around outside all day. Hide and Seek, on the trampoline, But it couldn’t stay this way. Eventually, the kids had to leave. To college they went, one by one. Until it was just the man and his wife, The days of childhood were done. They walked around my streets and sat on the porch each day. But then the man’s back hunched And his wife was taken to the hospital, away, They moved across town And left a sign in my driveway. And then it felt like I had been forgotten, For years and years I sat empty I watched the birds, the cars, the trees. Waiting for my next family. Then one day, someone comes strolling down my lane. A middle-aged lady, with an umbrella for the rain. I recognize her, I can tell She knows me too. She comes up to me and whispers “I remember you!” She is the girl whom I once knew. The one who always loved to sing. The one who loved hide-and-seek. The one who loved trampolining. And then I realize I wasn’t forgotten. I still exist in everyone’s hearts. Even when they move on from me. Even when a new generation starts. Holding memories that shape who we are. A safe place to develop and grow. That’s what home means to me. This, I think everyone should know.