H for the rugby goalposts in your backyard
Built by a father who loves you
Painted by a mother who adores you
Used by a sister who worships the ground you walk on
Games, fun and warmth radiate out through your windows
The light washes over the frozen ground
I am jealous
O for the shape of the pies on your kitchen table
Hot food, baked with joy, your stomach full of care
Smiling faces prattle to each other over the varnished oak
Describing days of learning and easy labour
I am envious
M for the Mickey Mouse curtains in the upstairs window
Created by you because you had the skills, the knowledge, the opportunity
Bedrooms full of colour and creativity
I can only wish for gifts like yours
E for experiences made available by having a home
You can smile, and laugh and make pretty things
I cannot
You can travel far away and the delight of home will go with you
It travels too, in your heart
I can see it in your eyes when you pass me on the pavement
You know you have a home
You know I do not
I watch you from the corner of the street
Your home is one of family, of comfort
Mine is one of cold bricks and empty alleyways
And that special place in your soul, which houses your home
Well mine is an empty void
Because I, I have no home and yours is one you take for granted
Dunedin Secondary School Poetry Competition