your house

your house
was built in 1968.
it's neither new
or old
comparatively speaking.
but at some
point during that
year,
someone's hands
placed a brick
on top of another
brick, tapping it
gently into the soft
grey mush of
mortar.
another sawed
a board to fit
where your feet
rest this moment.
someone strung
the wire for light,
connected pipes
for plumbing.
a roofer climbed
onto the slant
beneath the trees
and tacked down
shingles.
all of this went on
while robert kennedy
was shot
that june,
king was
slain, the cities
burned
and Chicago was in
the midst of a
political riot.
it was the year your
father left
your mother.
and yet
during all of this,
somehow that summer,
the house you live
in now was built.