The Empty Nest

The "empty nest syndrome" is a feeling of loss experienced mostly by women (some men experience it too), when their children go off to college or to get married.. According to Psychology Today  it's a feeling of sadness, loneliness, or even depression. Nowadays more mothers have careers and work outside the home and therefore are able to deal with the absence of their children in a more calm and accepting manner. The mothers and fathers whose lives revolved around the children are the ones who have a harder time accepting that the little ones have grown up and are off living their own lives. This poem is about those parents.


This Ole House and I

Once upon a time,

this big ole house was bursting with life.

My kids were always playing, hollering, crying,

silence was a rarity, neatness unheard of.

Sometimes I scolded or punished them,

other times I laughed and joined them.

The days, months & years went by

as if on roller skates.

The kids grew up & went away.

Too soon, I thought, this big ole house

was empty, quiet,

only the echoes of laughter and

shrilly voices remained.

Some days I walk from room to room,

perhaps hoping to find my babies,

but I’m greeted by deafening silence,

an emptiness that hurts.

Now, from time to time, I must say,

my kids return

with their own offspring in tow and

this big ole house shudders & awakens to

screaming & hollering that seems to

ricochet off its happy walls.

The empty echoes fade,

the bedrooms are messy,

the kitchen bustles with activity;

a half-eaten sandwich is on the counter,

the coffee pot is brewing and

the dishwasher is humming its happy song.

There is warmth, there is love,

there is life,

in this big ole house again.

But, time does not stand still,

it continues hurdling forward.

Too soon the silence returns,

too soon I find myself walking

a worn, familiar path

from room to room,

listening to the new echoes and

waiting, waiting.

Together we wait,

we wait for their return,

this big ole house and I.

                                                            © 2015 Mildred Santiago

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