food and bodies place history

i arrived home to beef
and to the weight of wealth;

an empty, stripped bathroom -
just two-by-fours, a sandy smell
and a deflated blue and white soccer ball.

i arrived home to my father ironing
patterned sheet after patterned sheet in a large bedroom,
and to a beautiful soft recliner smothered in linens.

i arrived home to heavy clean air

and to pictures stacked in corners
gathering dust
waiting to find room on the wall.

and i arrived home to you
sitting still
waiting for me;

your fingers in a knot
and your eyes on the neighbor's dalmation -
chasing dusty wind down the street.