My heart was an abandoned house
by Kathleen Byron
My heart was an abandoned house
The kind you see receded from the street,
Swallowed whole by Nature trying to reclaim what was once stolen.
My walls were black and ashen, charred from the blaze that left me debilitated and decrepit.
My roof, sunken, slack from years of heavy showers.
My supports, some weak and others eroded from rot and infestation.
My heart was once a humble abode.
However now every time it snows,
My weakness shows.
My heart is no longer a haven,
No longer an asylum for the restless and weary.
However, you,
You saw my heart clearly.
With my defenses down you easily found your way inside.
The darkness where all the wild creatures hide.
You found each and every one, exposed them all to the light of the Sun.
You tore what was left down and built me up from the ground.
Showed me how to be strong.
As I aged in the Summer Sun, and my paint peeled like tears,
You went to work to make anew this precious thing to you.
As we were both slowly sent into senescence,
You sculpted lines into my trim to show everywhere we'd been.
Together we grew until the time came when we both knew
I was just your fixer-upper
You had finally found another.
Kathleen Byron is a criminal justice major enrolled at North Shore Community College in Danvers, Massachusetts. Her interests include but are not limited to poetry, playing and listening to music, horseback riding, creating art, and helping others. In the near future she plans to follow the career path to become a corrections officer while working towards her law and business degrees to become a private practicing lawyer.
by Kathleen Byron
My heart was an abandoned house
The kind you see receded from the street,
Swallowed whole by Nature trying to reclaim what was once stolen.
My walls were black and ashen, charred from the blaze that left me debilitated and decrepit.
My roof, sunken, slack from years of heavy showers.
My supports, some weak and others eroded from rot and infestation.
My heart was once a humble abode.
However now every time it snows,
My weakness shows.
My heart is no longer a haven,
No longer an asylum for the restless and weary.
However, you,
You saw my heart clearly.
With my defenses down you easily found your way inside.
The darkness where all the wild creatures hide.
You found each and every one, exposed them all to the light of the Sun.
You tore what was left down and built me up from the ground.
Showed me how to be strong.
As I aged in the Summer Sun, and my paint peeled like tears,
You went to work to make anew this precious thing to you.
As we were both slowly sent into senescence,
You sculpted lines into my trim to show everywhere we'd been.
Together we grew until the time came when we both knew
I was just your fixer-upper
You had finally found another.
Kathleen Byron is a criminal justice major enrolled at North Shore Community College in Danvers, Massachusetts. Her interests include but are not limited to poetry, playing and listening to music, horseback riding, creating art, and helping others. In the near future she plans to follow the career path to become a corrections officer while working towards her law and business degrees to become a private practicing lawyer.