Rain splatters
On black pavement
Houses lit
Glowing before the night sky
Few stars shining
And a sliver of a moon
Houses line together
In dozens of rows
A Tuesday night
In suburbia

Within each house
Contains a family
Whether it be happy and fulfilled
Or small and broken
Each house
Contains people
With lives
Hopes
Dreams

Children chase one another
Around the cold basement once more
And when she catches him
She’ll kiss him and run
Pretending angry
He’ll run fast as he can
After her


Upstairs there is a room
Full of twelve year old girls
They gossip and giggle
And talk about the jock
They’ll call his phone
Squeal and hang up
When in the corner
A single girl
Lost in thought
Thinks of another
Known only
By her


In the kitchen is the oldest son
At the age of seventeen
Hungry again
He makes something of a sandwich
A beautiful girl knocks at his door
He answers
Then allows her in
She apologizes for the time
He smiles
Grabs her tight
And he kisses her
Just right


In the living room
A mother and father
Look and giggle
At an old photo book
Holding their past
As they close the book
Until next year
In attempt to put away
The photos they’ve seen so many times
One forgotten
Fell out of the hollow binding
Of two young children
Holding hands for the first time


In the attic of house 3092
Sits an old woman
As she notices a chest
Peaking from beyond
The mountains of boxes
Out grown coats
An old white dress
The woman crawls helplessly
To the large oak chest
With all her power
Pulls it
From useless memories
Slowly she opens it
She takes a breath
And covers her mouth
With wide eyes
Letters
Uniforms
Hats
And a navy photo
From 40 years before
And the woman
Alone in her home
Sheds her last tear