Moving House

By Michael Walker

Shifting is growing on my mind:
Cartons to buy and items to pack
In order, like a vertical file:
Books in boxes; clothes in cartons.

All the furniture and home appliances.
How do I deal with all that?
Leave the heaviest for the hired men,
With their blanketing and shrink wrap.

I return the keys to the owner,
Who has inherited my eight-year home.
I think of sleeping under a new roof,
No tablets to take, just new hope.

It is like finding a better home somewhere:
Disowning the new owner and the neighbours,
Who will probably not notice me moving out,
Like a traveler who may not say goodbye.

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