When She Arrives
A house is born of bricks and stone,
Of measured walls and polished floor;
It keeps the rain, withstands the storm,
Yet still it longs for something more.
The windows wait with silent eyes,
The empty rooms forget to sing;
A roof may shelter flesh and bone,
But cannot make a heart take wing.
Then comes a woman, soft as dawn,
With laughter folded in her hands;
She teaches corners how to smile,
And every silent doorway stands.
She leaves her fragrance in the air,
Her kindness in a cup of tea;
She fills the shelves with little dreams,
And sets forgotten spirits free.
A wife who waits beside the light,
A mother humming evening prayers,
A daughter scattering joyful noise—
Love quietly blooms wherever she cares.
She remembers birthdays no one writes,
She waters hope like tender vines;
She mends the days that come undone,
And stitches peace between the lines.
The walls begin to breathe at last,
The echoes learn each cherished name;
The kitchen glows with simple warmth,
The hearth becomes a sacred flame.
For home is never built by hands
That only stack the brick and beam;
It rises where affection lives,
And grows from every selfless dream.
So call it not a house alone,
Though grand its pillars proudly stand;
A building becomes a home the day
A woman’s heart walks through its land.
Bhairab Barman is an assistant professor, researcher, and poet at Central University of Andhra Pradesh, India.
I loved this simple, beautiful poem. Thanks for the warmth and hope it exudes.
A moment of calm in a crazy world. Heartfelt, touching and true. Thank you.
Bhairab, such a beautiful poem about when the fairer sex comes to live in a home.
“A woman’s heart walks through its land.” Your final line, Bhairab, well reveals the beauty of the unexpected in your style. Hearts don’t walk, and a home is not land (strictly speaking), but you lead the reader to follow you through a surprising language of loveliness. Emotional qualities traditionally ascribed to woman bring the material house to life. Indeed, it longs for her, and under the influence of her who “teaches corners how to smile,” it can breathe and glow. Wonderfully written!
Lovely.
What a wonderful reflection..I am thinking of my Auntie Jennie who was just like this, God bless her..
And what an appropriate poem for the Birthday of Oiur Lady:)
warmest regards,
Karen in Cambridge
One can imagine that Our Lady’s home was like this for 33 years.
First of all, I must say, I noticed your name. Shiva is my ishta devta. Coming to the poem, it’s a simple but heartfelt with many beautiful lines. Well done.
I loved how you personify the house, especially when the hand of a woman is present within its walls, and the lists of positives a woman brings, using all the senses to describe them.
A deceptively simple poem (and idea for a poem), that ends up being highly sophisticated and thought-provoking, I thought.
Thanks for the read, Bhairab.
This is a really beautiful and heartfelt poem.
What I loved the most is how you captured a very simple truth – a house is just structure, but a woman is what turns it into a home. The progression is so natural.
It doesn’t glorify a woman in a dramatic way, but in the small, real things she does like remembering birthdays, a cup of tea, humming prayers, mending days. That’s what makes it so relatable. Every reader will see their own mother, wife, or daughter in it.
The ending is perfect and leaves you with a thought:”A building becomes a home the day, A woman’s heart walks through its land.”
It’s warm, respectful, and deeply emotional. A poem that stays with you after you finish reading.
Being a Poetess myself, this poem brough me to tears because I can resonate with it. I am a single woman of 66 years of age. I have never been married. However, though unmarried, I can relate to this poem. Being single and retired, I have lived in an apartment alone. Yet, like the woman in the poem, I have made my ‘house’ a home putting my heart soul and mind into my daily routine. In every room, is a provision for prayer, my bedroom where I sit at my laptop with my late mother’s photograph ar the left of my laptop and a statue of Jesus Christ on the right of my laptop so that my work at my laptop would be worthy of the love of my late mothrr and my Saviour Jesus Christ. In another room, my meditation room, I everyday say 3 prayers my Love Myself , prayer, my Metastar prayer and my Things to do to get God’s blessings, like turning fear into faith, sin into confession, test into a testimony, mess into a message, etc. in my kitchen where I cook my food and my dining table, everyday I say a prayer to thank Fathrr God for the food I partake and never take the food for granted. I also pray everyday to Father God to one day enable me to have enough resources to give free meals for at least 100 homeless people every once in two weeks. In my bathroom, where I bathe, I pray thanking God that I have warm water to bathe. In my living room, I have a huge photograph of Jesus Christ to whom I pray to everyday to be able to face the challenges of the day. In my exercise and health room, it’s a photograph of Father God whom I pray to everyday to live my life to become the best version of myself and to do my best at all times and to always, always be grateful to the Lord because when one is genuinely grateful one automatically becomes more positive since gratitude and negativity cannot co-existed. It’s in this home,, I wrote my second book entitled 21 Poems in Tribute to Father God. Every room of this apartment resonates with sincere prayers where I have always lived like a nun devoting my full life to God. It would break my heart totally if I was asked to leave this apartmente for whatever reason. Since every room of this apartment resonates with prayers and songs dedicated to God, I pray now that, like this lady in the poem, i can live in this beautiful home until the my last day because it is the apartment where I talk to God and listen to what God has to say to me. I prayer all this in the matchless name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Very inspiring Heera. How lucky you are that the good Lord has pursued you so completely.