Always Previously Owned

After Adam died Eve

designed a house of wooden ribs.

2

She created it to never burn down.

3

It was full of happy walls and

bright colors that never faded.

(The next owner painted them gray.)

4

The rainbow colors would daub off

on every guest’s fingerprint,

an intended souvenir.

5

Nautilus shells placed near all windows

breathed the gentlest light everywhere

6

A stone pyramid staircase

snaked up to the second floor.

7

Doves could be heard cooing

peacefully from above.

8

There was a room with a writing desk that

everyone thought was a guest bedroom

but was really her office.

9

Abel’s name was carved

into all the door mantles.

10

On Sundays, after church, she invited

the children to slide through all the

crannies they could find

11

Outside, oaks and weeping willows

formed the boundary line.

12

When she died

they grew closer

to the house,

their limbs outstretched

as if in mourning.

13

When the government cataloged the house,

forgetting that she was a businesswoman,

they noted it officially as Adam’s property.

14

The next homeowner remodeled it poorly and

it burned down two days after they moved in.