Home

this place i call home 

it’s a long day and a drive home

into the setting sun and dusk

as i pull up in front of my house,

stand at the curb,

and look at this place 

i call home…

a soft glow emanates 

from the porch light,

revealing an old rocker

and the plain grapevine wreath

that hangs on the wall behind it

i realize this simple facade

is a postage stamp 

on the letter of my life…

a statement of who i am

and where i live…

my shelter and my refuge…

where i rest and lay my head…

and it’s all i need…

this place i call home…

by Sylvia L. Mattingly, March 25, 2021

Photo by Sylvia L. Mattingly

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At Dusk by Sylvia

at dusk

at dusk, i leave,

just as the lightning bugs arrive,

the warm glow of yellow lights

softly pulsing…

tapping out a unique version

of Morse code…

the white, billowy clouds

of a summer day,

lose dimension

and become shadowy silhouettes

pasted flatly against a twilight sky…

a yard ablaze

with colorful flowerbeds,

earlier awed over

and envied for their beauty,

recedes into the blossoming darkness

it was a day of laughter

and happy, smiling faces…

of chatter and camaraderie

and the ignorant bliss of childhood

then comes the leaving…

the driving away…

the honking of horns…

the waving of hands

and yelling of goodbyes

from a chorus of voices…

a steady stream of raw emotions

flows back and forth

between those who leave

and those who stay…

until the voices trail away

and the faces in the car windows

have long disappeared,

and this, another day,

has already found its place

in our memories

Sylvia L. Mattingly

July 30, 2020

Photo by Mike