Homecoming

I was breaking into the house i grew up in
and paused for a moment
on the ledge outside the second-story window
where my brother and I snuck out
and smoked weed
and made promised each other we’d never turn out like Dad

I had a fleeting feeling
the empty house would be deserted
that the lights had been dark for years
I indulged myself in a little bit of hope.

I wondered if it would be easier to explain
to the old family where the hell I had been
than to the new one who the hell I was
what the hell I was doing
breaking in
to their home