One brick at a time
one beside the next
then a row of them on
this mortar, a fine mix.
This is how you rebuild a house
with bricks from the one before it.
Out of order but
the same bricks
cement sand water.
Every house is built around
a brick that’s indispensable:
the bricklayer in search of the philosopher’s stone.
Like someone whose house
begins with smoke,
let’s put a brick
in the shape of our girls
on each pillow,
one the cat’s weight on the quilt,
on top of that goes one made of windblown
rosemary and one from summer for the shower
on the patio.
Each wall holds up a ruin
or receives shade from the tree.
Every house needs that capital
brick, if it’s not there
light from the nightstands left on at night
can be seen
from outside.
One brick at a time
if it’s worth the effort little by little
every house is built
around that brick
no house has.