Here is Where

Here is where some worked their butts off

just to pay the rent, to keep the electric and

gas running with light to see by at night, so

ovens could bake simple fare and traditional

familial delights.

Here is where friends and family came to visit

and escape, to blow out candles of celebration

on birthday and anniversary cakes, to hold hands,

hug and sing yuletide choruses at Christmastime.

Here is where faucets dripped and water pipes

burst, where good times rolled alongside the

worst. Here is where little feet outgrew their

shoes and became old enough to walk away.

Here now for shame is where nowhere is today,

where not a soul is stirring anymore, where no

tomorrows are forecast to come, where the cob-

webs of vacancy now reside, where the final rent

has been paid.

Here is where the friction of time slowly grinds

brick and mortor away, where windows to the

outside world lie fractured and shattered. Here

is now somewhere over there, and here will not

ever again be the same.

And here is where all seasons have changed and

only memories remain.

Chris Hanch 9-18-18