What does a room remember about who has lived there? Does it hold onto
one tenant more than another? Haunt another? Is it inviting to one and all? …
RENTAL
a rented room wears hats
without knowing who hung them
on which hook 
the room known by worn-out shoes
uneasy carpets
and the stain on the counter
where a pot of burning oil
lost its contents and shed flesh
before the fire truck arrived
it is a room where strangers
live without invitation
a place of NSF cheques
unwashed shirts
the place I met you beside a torn dictionary
and emptied words onto your plate
because I couldn’t afford a Kraft dinner
To Bethlehem: ‘This little book is delightful, full of … poems on this timeless subject. … the most fun is the little prose vignettes of the common people in the Christ-child story. The slave who looks after the wise men’s camels, or the overworked maid at the inn who has to fetch water for the birth, and many more. A lovely gift for the reader on your Christmas list!’ Rosalind Adams. Available from Amazon and Kindle.
Same feelings when you rent an apartment. You wonder what life habited that place before you, and then you proceed to make it your own. I was lucky, with a big family backing me, to always find a familiar temp. place to lay my head; difficult to join often a crowd one does not see or hear from, hard to make your own. Have a good day!
Any place that has been lived in has its atmosphere, its voices, fortunate if we pick up on them
and then live our own lives. Happy Wednesday to you too!