POEM: Six People in One House

six people in one house

blankets, books, cans of formula piled in corners
boxes marked 'dishes', 'cassettes' and '6 mo baby clothes' tucked
down in the garage next to piles of greasy car parts and Christmas ornament boxes
table crowded with plates, crayons, paper towels
counters covered and emptied, covered and emptied into
a dishwasher growling at the moaning dryer downstairs
"I don't want to go to bed" wailed over
one person's idea of music bumping and whining over
the whirrrrr of a baby monitor over
the crooning of Slim Whitman picking the guitar upstairs
purple ponies and puzzle pieces
stuffed bears and board books scattered across the living room rug
a cacophony of sights, sounds, smells

I search for one important paper over a period of a week and still don't find it...
6 people in one house is too many
or maybe it's just that 6 people's stuff in one house is too much

Sometimes I go for a quiet walk just to hear the silence of one heart beating
to see the stately organization of 6 symmetrical windows surrounding a blue door
someone serenely walking through their living room
two quiet green prints contemplating one lamplit room
stately shrubs marching down driveways
elegant aspens gracing neatly mown yards

I enjoy chaos- but sometimes 6 people in one house is simply too many
and 6 people's stuff in one house is definitely too much