Load Bearing
I notice I’m already home…
by Wren Mercer
I think I’m falling for you
More like a house
making up its mind to stay.
You ask,
"You alive?"
Two words.
I've known people
who checked on me
the way you'd check weather.
You ask
like the answer matters.
You show up.
Not dramatically.
Not enough for a story.
Enough to become a habit.
I tell you things
that cost me.
You don't flinch.
Don't solve.
Don't turn toward yourself.
You stay.
I keep waiting
for love to ask something of me.
A performance.
A proof.
A password.
Instead—
you hand me another ordinary day.
I set my keys down.
I forget to brace.
By the time I notice,
I'm already home.
Wren Mercer lives in Astoria, Oregon. Her work explores attachment, memory, and the small rituals that hold a life together. When she isn't writing, she's usually walking near the water or buying more books than she can reasonably carry home.
"Load-Bearing" is her first appearance in The Itch.
