By Palmares Bustamante

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We all live in a world of constant turnover and change. All it takes is a moment to recognize that every change lives inside of us.

I live in a house perched on the ledge of a far reaching peak
If you were to look up from the rocky bay it appeared as daunting as it was bleak 
And yet I never had a worry or fear until the day that I turned three
When I grew terrified of the darkness that rolled out of the room with no key
Then at six my greatest fear was the spiders that hid within the crumbling stones
At eight I was wary of the beams that sprouted like flesh from bones
At ten I had been petrified of the howling sound of the creaks in the floor
At thirteen I feared the splinters that shattered surrounding the handleless door

Until one stormy day never had a thought been so gripping
The sudden realization that a house on a hill might be in danger of tipping
Along with it every pot and pan, and picture in a frame
Every yearbook, every journal, every poem with no name
But what cannot fall, the feeling of cold floors prickling my feet
What cannot fall, the sound of foghorns following the fleet
I still live in the house and one day the lesson will come clear
That a house is just a house and a fear is just a fear.

Process

My process began by thinking about the ideas that consume me most. Being on the cusp of something new can be challenging, but mostly inspiring. I started to think about how I was feeling and let the words flow onto the page. I took real life challenges like fear of adulthood, uncertain futures, and leaving home and tried to relate them to something bigger. The first draft of the poem mostly included past and present, and then I slightly built upon what that might mean for my future. I was initially inspired by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, “No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other.”