Moving HOUSE and HOME
I'm selling my house and moving into an apartment in a retirement community. This prompt is to encourage me/us to write about the transition from steward of place to occupant of space--or vice versa. Of course, it's not as simple or as separate as that. Is moving ever simple?
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Delve into your own experience, or choose one of the following poems to inspire you, and create a moving house-and-home moving poem.
What life-altering move(s) have you made? What did/will you bring from old home to new? What would be your ultimate fantasy move?
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I've sampled each of the following poems. Please follow the links to read the entire poem:
Verses upon the Burning of our House, July 10th, 1666
of Our house, July 10th. 1666. Copied Out of
a Loose Paper.
It takes a heap o’ livin’ in a house t’ make it home,
A heap o’ sun an’ shadder, an’ ye sometimes have t’ roam
Afore ye really ’preciate the things ye lef’ behind,
An’ hunger fer ’em somehow, with ’em allus on yer mind.
. . . .
ON LOSING A HOUSE
“On Losing a House,” by Mary Oliver, appeared in the Winter 2001 issue of MQR.
1. . . . .
2.
Where will we go
with our table and chairs,
our bed,
our nine thousand books,
our TV, PC, VCR,
our cat
who is sixteen years old?
Where will we put down
our dishes and our blue carpets,
where will we put up
our rose-colored,
rice-paper
shades?
. . . .
Happy writing! Link your poem for this prompt, and then visit and comment on others' poems. We will visit you, too. Have a good day!
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Thanks for hosting, Susan. I have lived, give or take, in around 50 "homes" in my life, so am a bit of an expert on adjusting to new places. Smiles. The trick is, I take my treasures and my inner home with me. Much like a turtle! I wish you happy times in this new chapter you are beginning.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sherry
DeleteWelcome, poets! I have had many moves from east to west and north to south in the USA, but somehow this one--a move of only 10 miles--is the hardest. Is that because it's immanent? Maybe every move we make is the hardest in the moment. This is the first, though, when the adventure has a lot to do with aging. There's an adventure I've only experienced vicariously! That's about to change. Or maybe not. Grandmother always said you're only as old as you feel, and that's something I can continue to work on.
ReplyDeleteAnd then, today, all I can think about is the impossibility/necessity of moving/loss of life in Palestine and Israel and the Ukraine. If you, too, are consumed, feel free to bend this prompt in that direction.
DeleteI am heartsick over it, Susan. Finding it hard to put so much human misery into words.
DeleteThank you Susan for the wonderful prompt. I am Anonymous again. Sumana
ReplyDeleteSusan,
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting this week's prompt around the subjects of Moving House and Home.
I immediately thought of my own experience almost thirty years ago, which found us packing up our home in Northern Ireland and relocating to the north of England...emotional and not a move to repeat!
Good luck with your move...
For anyone so inclined, this weekend is the Blogblast for Peace, hosted every year by Mimi Lenox. We fly our globes and posts for peace all weekend, shoud you wish to add your voice......https://mimiwrites.blogspot.com/2023/11/dona-nobis-pacem-room.html
ReplyDeleteMoving is so stressful! Two years ago, I moved out of the home that I shared with my husband because I just could not deal with the yelling anymore. There are still boxes that I never unpacked. I feel like I should unpack them, but there isn’t enough room to put the stuff away.
ReplyDelete