I AM home for them

How can I write about coming home

when I’m already there?

You see I AM home

for 2 doves and a raven

which fly away each day

and return to roost

when the pall of darkness falls.

I welcome them with

kitchen cooking, aromas

lingering, mmmm mum,

smells good, what's for dinner?

Freshly laundered, lavender-

scented linen sheets,

flowers tumbling from a jug,

clothes cleaned and neatly pressed,

floors scrubbed to a sheen,

rugs warm and squishy underfoot,

a crackling fire in winter or windows

flung open to usher in sweet summer

breezes, silk curtains rustling reassuringly,

massage for tired shoulders, feet or

the simplicity of a back scratch,

listening ear or sounding board

that’s me for them.

I am Base Camp to their

Everest attempts,

and sometimes they make it

all the way to the summit

and I'm always here to celebrate,

I'm a cheer squad.

But sometimes they fall, tumble down,

landing roughly and I'm always here to

drag them to their feet again and

swathe the wounds, I'm balsam.