i once lived in a house like hers

I had a baby

toilet seat protectors

shiny hardwood floors

a husband

well-tended yard

fruit trees and rose bushes

mornings filled with tender hugs

from tiny outstretched arms

fragrant bouquet of flesh

against my breast

in that quiet little house

my eyes grew downcast

careful not to show

how trapped I felt

living

in a house like hers