It starts in fits
never giggles.
like slow syrup, I’m winding around this
house and liking all the things
i’ve tried to change about it
since I first held her keys.
I fell in love fast and hard.
Like rope burns on your wrists.
Her pine-wood flooring, the darling
sheds, nooks, secret rooms.
We had never owned a home with stairs
to up.
Always down, or the first one: nowhere.
Each address means something deep,
like ink, to me. Numbers as markers, a way
to say “I was here” or really … there.
and as we slowly comb back the layers
added to you, little house, we see your beautiful
plaster walls and not so many doors.
and I love you.