The Blueprint of the Habit

My nephew asked why the chimney was there

on the napkin sketch of a place to stay.

I’ve lived with a heat pump for ten years, I swear,

but I can't seem to draw it any other way.

I use the black crayon to darken the roof

until it presses the walls to the dirt.

I’m looking for some kind of structural proof

that a building can keep us away from the hurt.

But the windows are narrow and have vertical lines

like bars on a cell that I didn't intend.

It’s the architecture of a soul that pines

for a door it doesn't have to defend.