It is tempting to think

Of the heart as a one-bedroom apartment

With room for only one tenant at a time.

 

But truthfully the heart is like

a hotel undergoing eternal renovations.

New rooms are always being built,

Old ones are always being boarded up,

and the tenants are always moving in and out.

Sometimes there are so many rooms,

and no one to stay in them;

other times a hundred renters determined to squeeze.

Some are permanent residents,

Some are perennial vacationers,

others passing through, who scarcely say goodbye,

and some overstay their welcome.

They stay awhile,

They check out,

And when they leave, you change the linens

and re-stock the mini-bars.

 

So after a long day of imagining

My heart to be a one-bedroom

Where you live alone

(utilities included, of course,

and the discount for friends)

I open my eyes and say a weary good evening

to every tenant

every squatter

every honeymooner

every freeloader

and every overnight backpacker

and start laying the table for supper.

(Image: mine)

 

.