Home is after i left

Home is leaving an 11 year marriage and an apartment basked in sun

Home means kissing your cats

and telling them you’ll see them soon

when you won’t

Home beckons you out of the borough you have lived in for 27 years

And asks you to go back to your birthplace

To the time in your life when you were most present and your feelings most accessible

Before you gave up more than you ever meant to

Before you settled into a life that stopped fitting

And then got tighter and tighter

Home is a small room on a quiet street

With no living room

And the view blocked by window guards

Home is where you meet the roommate of your dreams who shares her insight

and with her, your shelf space

And she cuts your bangs when you feel like a change and she shows you the best place to get barbecue

And she grounds you when your head is busy talking down to you

And she knows what it’s like

and she likes what you know

and she tells you all the answers are already in the universe

For us to connect to

Anytime

In many ways

In any way

Home is the friend who is by your side

as you get to know yourself once again