Four Walls

I can't quite speak to you directly as you don't rightly have a name.

Your address fits snuggly into any GPS.
You even have a mailbox with numbers.

And, in a world of things, you are just one more of them.
But not to me.
Your place in my life is rich like the Earth, muddy and deep.

Yes, 4 walls can mean that much.

My pillow lies within you.
My feet find their callouses in your grass and grit.

I find my cadence each day on your back porch.
That place where wilderness whispers good morning no matter what window I look out of.

My children call you theirs.
Fragile folds of  newborn skin sit propped upon your nails from a photographer's lens.
Tiny eyes closed on my chest as little breathes expel sweetly.
black & white and still.
Eli Garrett and Casey McGill.


Their lives created within your walls.

Our first anniversary dinner.
Me in my night gown hair so very short & wet.
Kenny moved our kitchen table right into your outdoors.
Onto the same porch that would be the sight of this magical memory to come.

And now, we wait anxiously to let you go.
This notion is so preposterous yet ridicuously real in our lives.

Yes, 4 walls can mean that much.

You just capture us, 1012.
You meet us right smack in the middle where sweet solitude and character marry simplicity and style.
Bought hastily and speedy quick over nine years ago, we have lived life through your walls.
We have peeked out your windows hoping our dreams would come true.

And, you have tucked us in each and every night with even more dreams to slumber upon.

Our life has made its way in and amongst you.
From pumpkins gutted on newspapers, to mistletoe kisses, and hot summer sweats, our seasons rest within you.

So, please know that, letting you go is so bittersweet.
Mr. and Mrs. Howard Kenneth Cobble III's first address.
pregnant bellies and gliders stroked as swaddlin' commences.
Yes, within you.
Giggles and bubbles and slobbery crawls.
Big boy toy races and a business born.
Late night stitches and bouquets on a budget, you have provided a space for so much happy.

And, I yearn to keep you inside.
Selfishly ridiculous, I know.
Because, WE belong together as a family of 4 moving forward.
Like last pick in a dodge ball game, I ache to know you'll be left.
I pray for a someone so on the super side of special to have the privilege of a piece of the magic you have given us.


When they will show, who knows?
Until then and long thereafter, I will love you.
Your honey toned floors as I scoot my slippers across.
The way the afternoon light sprinkles delicately through to the living room each day.
The earnest and humble roll of the railway train rumbling through.
Eli's light.
The sturdy we have found in family within your possession.

Without a name, you are.
Without a place in out hearts, never.

Yes, 4 walls can mean that much.


.mac :)