Master of the House?

I am not Master in this house

This exquisite design did not come from me.

This house which breathes whether I will or not

This house that knows warmth from hot and

Chill from cold.

No, I am not Master in this house.

The one who crafted the blueprint

came long before my daddy did

calling me to my mama’s mind.

I am no more Master in this house

than rose is of vine.

Then who or what is

Master in this House?

What makes the feeble self

splayed against the backdrop of mind

think she can do anything regarding

the Master in this House . . .

except to surrender that

which is not mine.

In This House© by Nance Harding 2017. Excerpted from Love & Other 4-Letter Words: Reflections on Illness as an Initiation© Expansion by Paige Bradley, New York, USA (used with artist permission)