The Heart of Our Home is a poem about moving one’s life and a meditation on building a new life in a new place. Touching upon themes of nostalgia, renewal, and hope, Heidi Woo reflects on the act of transplanting the seeds of knowledge and love from one place to another in a world where more lives are becoming increasingly transient. Reminiscent of Ha Jin’s The Detached, the poem is imbued with a sense of optimism and possibility in the face of an uncertain future.
The Heart of Our Home
We filled our apartment
with things from another life:
books read and unread, artwork, photos –
objects containing memories from years past.
Beautifully arranged
to evoke inspiration for the viewer
to create a new life imagined,
To instill hope
that things would grow
from these seeds of good fortune.
Verdant, lush green leaves emerge
from these replanted roots.
A more spacious vessel,
this heart of our home.
To instill hope that things would grow from these seeds of good fortune – very nice.