Saturday, March 18, 2017

Finding Home



Walking to school in the morning,
passing by little cottages with picket fences
and milk bottles on the porch,
tears ran down her face,
she so longed for a home of her own,
a place of refuge,
peaceful and safe.

She grew up and created those homes,
many of them,
lost some and started over from scratch,
with nothing, as single moms do,
sleeves rolled up,
eyes bright and determined
and a heart high with the challenge
of rebuilding a nest for her four chicks,
one made with laughter and hope
and dreams of new beginnings.

Observing this sequence of events
backwards, hindsight being 20/20,
she recognized at some point
Home had become a place inside herself,
that she carried with her,
the way a turtle inhabits its shell,
or a sand dollar creates its home
from the sand and grit around it,
and carries it along.

Home was within,
and it also was as large as
the forest and the sea,
under the bright blue sky,
shared for a time
with a big, black laughing wolf,
whose heart contained
all the wild.


for Brendan's prompt at Real Toads: to write a poem about home. This was the quest of my life, since childhood. I spent years walking miles,  looking at houses I passed, imagining the lives lived within. This feeling of homelessness finally stopped when, in my early 30's, I had my first  real home, thanks to my mother's help, where I raised my children for a time. But there would be many more moves, and homes, after that. For one who only wanted to settle down, I did a lot of moving! Perhaps 40 times all told in my lifetime.........


20 comments:

  1. Thanks Sherry -- perhaps only the homeless can understand what having a home means, what comes from within to make a home. As the rabbi said, only the fully broken heart can be the fully whole one. There is magic here...

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  2. I think that this is the only strength that the homeless posses...maybe that's why the privileged still envy the poor... there is a tremendous strength to find your home inside.

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  3. This was a wonderful step into a dream. It made me feel how lucky I am.

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  4. A delicate poem with an unbreakable message! Though I didn't have children or move so many times, I felt that home forming within. Love your use of sea critters here.

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  5. A moving poem, Sherry, and familiar in many ways.

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  6. shared for a time with a big,
    black laughing wolf,
    whose heart contained
    all the wild

    A home is a home when shared with other loved ones, even with just pets!

    Hank

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  7. she recognized at some point
    Home had become a place inside herself,
    that she carried with her..

    I love this revelation, Sherry. It gave me chills.

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  8. I love seeing her journey, the things she builds, the special place where she finds her home... in the best place.

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  9. This reminds me poignantly of my own childhood--we moved almost every year of my life til I was in fifth grade...you look at those homes and they seem so perfect and whole compared to the fragments of your own security, yet now I know that few of them were as happy as I imagined. I love your resolution here, with your wolf pup and your own heart-home.

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  10. Our true your words Sherry. Our real home is within.
    Kind regards
    Anna :o]

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  11. I being divorced after 25 years with 2 children it was a lonely time and a hard time. The state of La. is based on French law and the man gets all the goodie. I hope it has changed now I don't know. We did get a Government apt. lucky there. and 98 dollars in food stamps. But today I own my home and the children grew up. I am old but I liked this blog. The courts do not understand what women go through. I supported my girls working at Walmart 3.10 an hour and he lived in the home he and I built making 15.00 an hour an never paid a dime in Child Support. We made it.

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    1. Good for you. America is the wealthiest country in the world. It is an absolute disgrace to think low paid workers do not even get a living wage. Shame on your governments of either party.

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  12. Hugely resonant poem for me and dancing down a similar road to my own write. Very moving piece.

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  13. I like that home is within, carried like a turtle shell. Still, we all need somewhere to spread out on the outside. Well written, Sherry!

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  14. Super - home is something we carry within us

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  15. you keep your essential home in your heart - and open your home to all of us ~

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  16. You have a wisdom and wealth gained from your experience that others will never know.Very very moving post.

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  17. I love the photo. Home is where we carry it.

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  18. Wow, that is a lot of moves! (I just counted up my own, and there have been 18, which I thought was quite a few until I read your tally.)

    I love the poem, and I'm glad you found the home within.

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  19. the image of walking on the sidewalk, looking at all the homes. I read that a few days ago and the image has stayed with me. I'm so glad you have found your refuge!

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