Home

Through aluminum windows rays of sun
Fill the humble living room with light;
A little girl in footed pajamas starts
To rub her eyes and climb out of a warm
Toddler bed, happy to be at home
Where things are familiar and welcome.

Daddy picks her up in a welcome
Embrace. He loves her as much as he would a son;
He is ready for work and must leave at home
His wife and daughter to carefully light
A new fire in the old stove to warm
The house for the day's start.

The little girl helps her mommy start
A batch of oatmeal whose aroma is welcome
Mixed with the crackling warm
Scent of pine logs burning orange as a sunset.
Mommy picks up her little child who feels light
After the wood she brought into her home.

It is a modest three room home
Purchased to celebrate the start
Of their family; he was the light
In her life and she in his; then they welcomed
A baby girl into their family, a bundle of sunshine
To fill their lives with joy and warmth.

Many sleepless nights they fed warm
Milk to a hungry baby, safe at home,
Rocking sleepily in the pale glow of the midnight sun,
Carefully laying the baby in the cradle so she wouldn't start
To cry. Then climbing back into a bed soft and welcoming,
Only to be awakened too soon by morning's first light.

Each day they watch their baby grow and see the light
Of innocence shine in her eyes as she starts
To explore the world around her and welcome
New experiences, feeling confident at home,
Spared the bite of cold by the woodstove's warmth,
While chasing dust floating through rays of sunshine.

Even when the sun sets there is light
In the warm little home bought at the start
Of a new family, looking for a welcome place to call home.
-Shawnee