Yesterday

Yesteryear

There was a house I lived in

Filled with pillow forts

And pillow fights

And games of Twister in her living room.

She had stains on her rug

And popcorn under her couch cushions

And happy memories in her dusty corners.

Inside my bedroom

Outside my window

There was a tree I looked at

Filled with fuchsia flowers in the spring

And red-orange leaves in the fall

And bluish icicles in the winter.

She had nests on her limbs

And sap in her trunk

And a chirping neighborhood in her shadowy depths.

I haven’t lived in that house in years.

I haven’t looked at the tree in ages.

But today, I drove by it.

The siding is a different color

Like my hair is a different color.

The back room is expanded

Like my backside is expanded.

And my face is beginning to resemble the wrinkled tree trunk.

But it’s there,

Still -

The tree.

Standing still

Still standing

Next to the inside of my old bedroom.

And

Still

Today

The song of the birds can be heard outside the window.