Closing in

This big house feels so unexpectedly claustrophic.
All of these memories packed so tightly into each shelf and drawer.
This piano where you'd play and sing.
This balcony where we strung balloons for celebrating.
This kitchen where you'd spend so much time baking for us.
This room. This one, where you took your last labored breaths.

My chest is tight with all of these memories.
The thought of you so close and so far away those last few months.
Time slipped so quickly, regret hangs in the air.
I don't want it all to be over, though I recall it wasn't always that way.
In this place I wish you could still be.
In this place I wish we could all be still.