four square on a corner

When we talk of love stories we don’t talk about houses, but that is my love story- I loved my house in Owatonna. I knew when we looked at houses that this would be the house where I'd raise my girls, even though there were only two of them at the time. Steve was in Italy when I closed on the house, by myself, since the realtor friend of his that he'd asked to be there with me didn't show up. I moved in again, by myself, with help from my family, Steve was still on tour.

corner lot
lots of trees
front porch
kitchen with windows (plural)
space
did I say?
space
lots of it
in the house
in the attic
in the basement
on the main floor
on the second floor
in the yard
go outside I could say
and outside was
big enough and
small enough
and close enough
windows
for sun
for wind
for breezes
for hearing the outside
sounds
when the inside sounds
were too quiet
walls that held
pictures
photos
mirrors
color
memories
babies
toddlers
school age
teen-agers
more babies
it held us all
a solid container
for combustible
life