Apartment 2b
Memories echo off of empty walls;
Pencil marks in the door jamb record heights at different ages;
Squares of whiter paint give proof family photos once hung there.
The oven has been scrubbed clean of past Thanksgiving turkey messes;
Toothpaste splatter has been wiped from the bathroom sink;
For want of a returned security deposit, all evidence of life within has been cleansed away.
Only four replicated keys lay on the kitchen counter.
The bare and empty rooms weep for the family who loved her for a small portion of their
lives…
And yet, are gloriously hopeful of the new tenants just days away from rejuvenation in a
new light.
Full apartments on either side and across her well lit hallway,
Are homes to friends of those who left and strangers to those on their way.
The sounds outside of her open windows somehow enter empty rooms so sad;
Those same sounds are received so joyously when furniture and souls abound.
Do not mourn too long, my empty temptress; laughter and love will soon fill your rooms
once again.
New secrets and new revelations will accompany new pencil marks on freshly painted door
frames.
Apartment 2B will be someone’s home once again.
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