Sudbury

I didn’t want you at first

So much caretaking and tending

Freedom

Is what I thought I wanted

Deep down I think I knew

Roots are what I longed for

Alone is how I felt

Not knowing

You would offer me

Companionship

Do I have what it takes?

To give you what you need

How will I do it?

Time

It took

To fall in love

With your red door

Soft creaks

Faint smells

Peeled paint

Together welcoming

Strangers

Friends

Neighbors

Family

Animals

Spiritual companions

Heartache

Grief

Joy

New life

Everything good and true belonged here

And if not

You told me

We grew

And creaked

And blossomed

Time it took

To fall in love

With the way the sunlight streamed into your spaces

Highlighting the beauty of spiderwebs and dirt

or the patina of your walls and floors

You weren’t really spacious

But

Here

There was always

Room

To learn, to grow

To be

11 years

To think

I was concerned about taking care of you

This whole time, you were caring for me

Your peace gently inviting

Me

To become

Sudbury was written by Emily Turner Watson and originally published in House of Nourishment, a publication of Retreat House Spirituality Center. Purchase a copy.