FALL POEM: A House Like Somebody

The Arts

November 1, 2022



Let me have a house
who looks like
Somebody
Not merely a building
no ordinary listing.
A house who – when the sun hits his gable – 
looks ready to stroll
or could even seem able
to join in my joke with his light, easy frame
or carry my drift in his hearth’s happy flame.
When the rain slides down
his pointy, personal roof
I’ll stay faithfully inside to witness his truth.
I’ll put on the kettle and talk in a whisper
As the wild wind weathers
his sweet, sensitive shingles.
White snow and red leaves
will make beautiful clothes
I’ll invite all my friends to
See his season’s wardrobe.
We’ll throw open the doors
to October’s fresh air
But when they go home
Just me on the stairs.
Let me be married
to his windows’ wry winking
Ever persuaded
by his chimney’s stern thinking
Let me paint his door bright
Like permission to beam
(My house and I
will hold each other
in the highest esteem)
In my house, someday,
I’ll see someone
so becoming.
And my house will see me:
he’ll know I’m really
     Something.

— Caroline Langerman

Caroline Langerman is a writer in Charlotte. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and Glamour.

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