Grandma's House

I step into the room
         Linoleum, cold and smooth under my bare feet
Smells waft in from the kitchen
         Pancakes and memories
History flows in the walls
         Runs through the cold tiles
         Hums in the old furnace
         Sizzles on the gas stove
         Echoes in the sound
                   of small feet padding
                   softly through the room
Robins chirp happily
Air is warm and sweet

To go home again
Is nothing but a dream
Warm, sweet, fading memories
Of a cherished home
No more smells,
No sounds,
No cold, shocking linoleum
To freeze little feet
Empty shell of a house
Emptied of joy and void of life

Beloved home
Barely a house
A senseless loss
Foreclosed dreams
Sweetly saddened memories
Of grandma’s house