Dear Charm of a House Abandoned

Morning glories choke the azaleas

in the garden once artfully tended.

Off the lovingly curated walls,

The paint cracks, peels, and chips.

But this house holds its charm

through the heights

written in the kitchen doorway.

A family’s happy marks.

The heart

of this house is no longer.

It has been lived in,

 loved in,

and left.