It's covered to keep secrets... A good night kiss and more. Conversations to explore, when it rains, it 's our door. Sometimes I can't make out who's there... many people embrassing each other. A brother, a mother, a sister, my best friend. We watch cars go by, placing dibs on the best one.
My porch growing up had a screen. We built it ourselves, our shelter away from seeing eyes and
passersby. The laughter poured out from our screen porch, talking about school, friends, and
work. We painted the steps green, matching the door serene, we decorated it with flowers and we sat on it for hours. We made jokes and poked fun at each other, my mother, my brother, my
sister, my friend. Just laughing and enjoying therein. When I was younger I brought suiters.
Standing outside are my admirers. My first husband counts me unaware. We are no longer together, but he stood outside asking me back. I'll never forget why he stood outside in the rain.
My family shared sweet tea. We talked for hours, the sirens blared by. We said our prayers for
someone's cares. I'd watch young girls driving by in brand new cars, hair flowing out their window,
music playing hot tracks. I wished I was driving with a cute guy, no worries, instead of passersby.
I remember my porches, all of them, big and small, the steps from within. The swing swaying
gently on a cobblestone road. A dog chasing me home from school. Sometimes I sit with all of my friends. I don't have a porch anymore, just a sidewalk and a door, but I clean it sometimes and decorate it with flowers. I sit on the lawn looking at my nieghbors' porches for hours. Hearing the
laughter and the voices, watching young love begin, people coming in, children playing with their friends.
Is that where life begins and ends? Husbands carrying their new wife in?
Mothers bringing home newborns, --trick-or-treaters ringing your door bell... oh the sweet faces, Jahovah's Witnesses... I hate to admit it, but police come to the rescue, too.
My porch with a doormat that says, "Home is where the heart is" The mailman bringing packages and letters, a bird feeder, what could be sweeter? Sometimes I see a little bunny too scared to move. He just stands there waiting for you. You turn away and he's gone.
