A House is Not a Home

A Poem by Ebits

My attempt at what would have been a performance poem. A metaphor for the construction and demolition of relationships.

Where's the breaking point? The point from which there's no return? The point that points out, "what's the point?" When is it I turn around and turn away to walk away, walking towards another day? But if there's a way to change the day then why not stay and toil away cuz it just may repair this house I've built. This house is holding up my guilt. I push and lean, but it still tilts, and now I hold it up with stilts. Foundation rolling down the hill, and I can't stop it. Picking up the wood and stone, I try to save this empty home. Doors are falling, windows crack. The roof is peeling off this shack. I could still live here if I choose, cuz at this point, what's there to lose? A shoddy shack that's not a home is better than being alone and cold and scared, cuz this falling house is a home still shared. I know it would be better though if I could let the builders know what they do to make it fall and how to build it nice and tall so it won't tilt and lean again, and we can build it well and then live well in it. Cuz no matter how you spin it, if you build it, and you're finished, and you're measuring your treasure and you still don't get your pleasure out of looking at your construct, well, then I guess you're kinda, uh... fucked. So maybe you say "screw it," but you know you gotta do it, so you pick it up and move it, and you think you're gonna lose it... But what's the point of living in a shoddy shack that's ruined? So pick up all the parts of broken wood and stone and heart, and take them to a place where you can build them better still. You'll sit there sad and brokenhearted 'til it's time to get it started, so build it slow and build it well, and take your time, cuz time will tell if this new house can stand alone, if it knocks down from wind that's blown, and if it holds the light that's shown from living in a happy home. And when you're happy in the end, I think you've found the point, my friend.