In which the goodbye came too soon after the first hello

You were never like the other ones
You managed to remain bare even after I had filled you up
You were obstinate from the start about needing a new colour
My magical earth-orange-and pink combo was never going to work with you
So I tried green and purple and blue
I cushioned you in lieu of curtains which you refused to adorn
I even forced a red. Nothing radical. Just a lamp- for us to eat under and for the colour to shine over
Since your unwieldy corners did not yield to sameness, I tried to highlight your differences
Every room had a different hue, every corner a different piece, and paintings were all asymmetrical
After I stocked my pots and pans, and struggled with fitting ceaseless clothes into spaceless closets
Stacked up the shoes, shoved in racks and boxes that I tried my best to make prettier and less ubiquitous
After I ensured that my favourite things stared me in the face everywhere I went or peeped out of blind corners to say hello
After I barely settled into the rhythm of cleaning and shining you..first every week and then ,well ..only when I felt like
When I had barely begun to appreciate how your dishwasher makes them look better than me
Or that I could double up the launderette as storage
Many a barbecue-in- patio dream shattered by limited stocks in your large unlimited stores
When I had barely begun to enjoy adding to you- a bookend here, a frame there,
That the time has come for you and me to part
To part ways, lives, time and continents
Farewell, my friend, till we meet again
I leave your wooden walls now for concrete and cement
I think I will miss your sounds of silence, for where I’m going, ears don’t ring- only phones and a million voices do
May you bring to the one I leave behind much joy, comfort, and peace
May he find in you what I couldn’t- time in a home that I would call my own...