I saw our house today, the one we never lived in. I could see the sunshine.The porch we were excited to sweep. The patio, dripping with ivy. I can taste it from here and feel how the air seemed like slippery grass. The emptiness of the adjoing school yard, warped and hot on a thick and cloudless day. She made promises about the noise, the woman pursuading us to move in, that kids from the school and the leaping voices wouldn’t pierce us. I disagreed but stood in the slim kitchen, turning my diamond ring, curious.
Would we have made it had we kept that house, that hope and collective sweetness there on a street close to people?