A Room In Someone Else's House

Locked inside a room

in someone else's house.
Shouts about the
same 'ol issue from yesterday.

A house, family to live inside it. Wishes.
In aisles, collecting dishes, eyeing
cherry wood finishes for furnishing,
looking down in the cart at the tiny
fingers that reach up to grab
each item I look at. Wishes.
Sitting on the porch
on weekend mornings, taking
in the sun as I
admire the lake across the road.

The ink on my degree is running
dry and the cracking of my
back at the end of each night
is not justified by this pay.
The tiredness in my
eyes is starting to show,
I notice as I
stand in front of a mirror,
staring at a grown me,
alone, in a room in
someone else's home.
Locked.
There's a key.
But where am I going?