I know the house by what my hands can find Three rooms keep three versions of my life The desk still carries that cut near the edge My wrist wore it deeper through late working nights Invoices stacked with the corners aligned Dates in my writing, a workable life I run one finger over the groove Remember the hours when order could soothe For one soft minute, the years sit near Paper and timber say I was here These rooms remember me All these traces say I belonged If they held me when I needed them They don't get to move along I can lay my hand upon them I can keep the years intact This is where I still make sense This is where I take it back The next room bears a worn patch on the frame Smoothed by a hand I can almost still name A chipped blue cup remains on the shelf Facing the place where another one sat I hold it the way that I held it before As if one small object could settle the score Memory was tender when I stepped inside Now I need proof that it never changed sides IT STAYS MINE! These rooms belong to me I claim each trace and keep it here What was mine cannot grow distant What was here must stay around I can name each worn impression I can keep the past exact Nothing leaves, no matter the need Nothing changes without my say-so A blanket folded over the chair Still holds the bend of a body once there A sun-paled square rests high on the wall A slow afternoon shadow reached it at four I sit, but the quiet won't settle the same DON'T TAKE THIS! I smooth every crease till my knuckles go white Demand that the room give the old calm back The chair keeps its angle, the wall keeps its stain Only my grip says the moment remains One hand on the first frame One hand on the next The third room half visible Each one making its claim If I step into one The other two recede ALL OF THEM! So I hold every doorway And give my feet nowhere to be These rooms are all still mine I can see them from the hall What remains must keep its meaning Every room must hold it all If I choose one, I lose two So I stand and claim all three These are rooms I refuse to leave Though none of them can carry me Hands on the frames Feet in the hall I keep every room I inhabit none at all
