Daily Poem 12/30

All four of us bundled into the hotel room
with all our things on a moving truck
finished a bottle of good scotch at 4pm
and took the baby to a nearby restaurant.
She munched on breadsticks
looking philosophical
charmed the waitstaff
"we're all talking about her in the back room,"
said one, after each had come by to visit and collect her smiles.
The baby Pearl didn't know she was between homes
in the best way
a river home awaiting her
under trees full of cicadas
leaving behind the condo we loved, a kitchen we'd built ourselves,
and the upstairs neighbors we'd come to dread
but first we had to close.
And take some time in the hotel pool.
at night the cat prowled the perimeter,
a dark shadow among shadows
as cats love to be.
In the year since that day,
we have painted
a lot
planned
big visions
pulled weeds and planted pumpkins
met neighbors
befriended neighbors
learned to parent together
from the day we shared a long hug in the kitchen
and the baby climbed the stairs alone
and fell, causing us to both install a gate and not hug too much
when she was awake
to the day we first cuddled in the loveseat side by side
and watched the most diverse set of birds stop by our new feeder
as she pointed and said "robin! sparrow! chickalee!"
A Thanksgiving spent here with loved ones
fresh local food
and abundant household projects
and a Christmas spent here
making cookies for every family on the street
For every frog call from our living room
and every stray toy underfoot
for every morning we took a shower in a house with no working shower
I thank the universe.
That first night when the moon was full and aquatic insects lined the screens,
it was with wonder I slept next to you
and still awake with awe in my gut
at that July 31
when we left what we knew
to come to where
we knew
we belonged.