This is the house of yearning—
       

the featherbed on rusted box springs.
The cobwebbed windows,
a milk bottle vase on the sill.
The way the cottonwoods shade the shed
that is no longer there. The husband
and wife smile young and hopeful
from a dusty frame on the dresser.
This is the cradle that held their daughter.
The stove where the wife baked their bread.
The mudroom where he pulled off
his boots every night after milking.
This is the part where you realize every
broken window is a piece of you.

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Copyright © 2013 Shaindel Beers All rights reserved
from The Children’s War
Salt Publishing
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission