The Haunting of Our Abodes

By Valerie Maldonado

Be it apartment, house, or dorm
Workspace, travels, someone’s arms
Where we reside for a time
Lurks forever in our minds

Childhood memories abound
From the space to the sound
First cribs, crushed dreams
Replay like deleted scenes

The haunting of our abodes
Stems from ghosts long ago
What was once warmly inviting
Transforms as another’s place of hiding

The four corners of every room
Neighborhood sounds in the afternoon
Streets and subways
Highways and doorways

Come upon us randomly
Uninvited, intrusively
To remind us who we were
Of the life we led before

Snippets: bad, good, indifferent
A reminder that we lived it
Even those who stay in one place
The years transform the space

The altering waves of time and life
Bring new locations for us to reside
New faces, ideas, and roads
Will one day transform into new ghosts

Photo by me 2023