Decades at least
We’ve waited a few decades for each other, at least.
And now, we call each other home.
I pay the rent and you pay me by wrapping my body and soul in your four walls, your high ceilings, your sash windows
I feel at home.
I am at home in you.
Your twenty-something square metres of floor space is more than enough for me
Because maybe size is everything.
And small is beautiful.
I rented you because you wouldn’t get out of my brain
I dreamt of you cloaked in some of me.
Together, we face east.
That means sunlight streaming through our windows, each morning.
It means that harbour, it’s only steps away.
Together, we absorb the sounds of traffic right outside.
Maybe, just maybe one day, all that traffic noise
Might really start to sound like ocean waves.
Together, we’ll make memories here.
There’ll be friendships, and laughter, and creativity,
Deliciousness, love, no doubt there’ll be some tears.
I promise I’ll buy you flowers, roses they suit you,
And I will take our staircase in double bounds, when I have been away.
I promise I’ll be the best I can be.
There’ll be fits and starts, messy days, undone dishes,
But I’ll be me
I’ll be comfortable, and strong, and risk-taking
And courage, it will sometimes feel like crazy brave
But I’ll do it anyway
Because you, me, this neighbourhood, we’ve waited a few decades for each other, at least.
Jordan
Ainslee
Anonymous