Life In The House

If there had been more rain
there might have been a chance
that what grew so little might have grown more
and the cats and badgers that stopped hunting and rooting
in the sun savaged yard might have stayed at it longer
and there might have been life in the house

If there had been a little more snow
there might have been cover
over the dirt in the wind beaten yard
and the sparrows and the raggedy squirrels
might have left tracks in the drifts
and there might have been life in this house

If there had been a five hundred year storm
to lift this pile of loss from its foundation
there might have been a chance to see
the worms and centipedes scattering from their holes
and it might have been easier to understand after the fact
why whatever was here did not constitute life in this house