The house is always full
of people, food, and laughter.

Each meal is lovingly crafted
by my grandma’s deft hands–
experience rooted deep
in the map of calluses that covers them.

Card games and conversations
fill every free moment.
Traditions crafted and nurtured 
by them,
taught and passed down
to us,
in hopes that we will preserve them.

It is never silent,
never empty
when we come to visit.

I try not to think
of the day it will end.

The day that house becomes empty
is the day I will
as well.