After The Family Visits Poem by Jim Yerman

Our family visited but they're gone now…the house is empty
but it's definitely not bare
for the memories they left behind are echoing everywhere.

If I listen closely…I hear them
their echoes and so much more
as they blend with all the echoes they've left behind before…

I hear children chasing each other around the house…
I see them running fast…and slow
the way they did this visit…and so many visits ago.

I see them playing football outside…
they've all gotten so much taller
and I see them playing years ago…
when they were all much smaller.

I see one grandchild up in our climbing tree…
I see Nana cautioning him
and I see his mother when she was small
sitting next to him on that same limb.

Echoes of so many funny jokes…
that my family said were lame
but on the echoes of their faces
I see laughter just the same.

I see so many memories bouncing around…
an abundantly joyous amount…
so many echoes from so many years
that I long ago lost count.

I love how the echoes of today…
the latest ones they cast
so easily blend with yesterdays…
and all the echoes of the past…

Which is why I walk around our empty house with a smile
as from room to room I roam
surrounded by all the echoes
that make this house our home.