The Landscape of My Origin

long ago, a young family of three went to live next to a meadow
where cows grazed quietly
the farmer sometimes walked right up to their home
until a highway blocked his way and fields were built upon 

the house held its ground, protecting five
then three, two, until only she remained
the clock kept ticking but time stood still
from one cardiac arrest to another

but now there is life again, a new breeze in the old stream 
where no water flowed for a long time
young people in an old neighbourhood 
where silence had known different sounds 

i now stand before this façade (of still life) 
unchanged but not untouched
life was given, passed onto and let go of 
within this house, the house of my origin

Puck, 17, Belgium.