“House” by Michelle Lerner, a poem from her chapbook, Protection, released in July 2021, by The Poetry Box, has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize.
Please enjoy the poem, and feel free to leave a comment.
“House”
I am your tin house,
your cabin, your tent
and like a tiny nomad you travel with your yurt
on your back, wrapping around you
as you writhe like a bronco, bucking at the walls
my blood just the whisper
of wind as you stretch.
You do not know yet to be lonely
you do not know
what it means
to wait.
I am a house of spirits,
yours and mine.
You hiccup and I try
to hold you in, to hold you still
with my hand on the roof of your world.
And your father surrounds me
as I surround you,
he is my house
opens windows and doors
offers me his arms, offers me his back.
Sometimes he holds you at night,
his hand on my belly, cupped
around your foot, or fist
as you sleep unknowing,
his hands not really hands,
his voice just vibrations
of the air in the eaves
of your tin house, your tent,
this space that I have given you
this room of your own
to stretch into the world
creating
yourself
as we watch, wide-eyed, and wait.
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