Begonias

“Not a night goes by

I don’t dream of wandering

Through a house that might have been

A home.”

-The Chicks

Begonias

No farmer buys a tractor to plow a field

And leave the rows

Unseeded.

No bird gathers twigs, grass, moss, and feathers

To build a nest for

Dead leaves.

And no man dreams of buying a house

And leaving it silent and

Empty.

So I’ll fill this empty shell with

Books

Pack worthless things into cobwebbed

Nooks

Line the walls with picture frames on

Hooks

Keep the front lawn trim in case the neighbor

Looks

The pink and yellow begonias that line the porch

Are no match for a woman’s

Beauty

The honeysuckle and tomatoes in the back

Can’t fill the space of a growing

Family

The sounds of neighborhood kids outside

Aren’t the same as a man’s own

Playing

So I’ll do my best to fill these silent

Rooms

With Mozart and Bach and Beethoven

Tunes

And I’ll open the windows to hear the birds’ cooing

Tones

And pray this lonesome little house will one day be

Home.

4/29/25