October 29, 2014
The Old Guy and the Old Dame
The old house is still standing
Its days of usefulness are o'er
And though it hasn't fallen
It is more decrepit than it was the year before.
Missing panes and tattered shingles
The building is beginning to crumble
Time-battered and weather worn
I, too, am beginning to stumble.
From time to time I stop to visit
To assess the prospects for tomorrow
Some day she'll fall but I may not see it
Like her, I've little time yet to borrow.
Will the house go first, or will I?
You may not play our little game
We'll soon revert to dust
The old Guy and the old Dame.
© 2014 David W. Lacy
Pictorial Update
December 11, 2017
November 17, 2018
7 comments:
Grace, everything returns to the earth from which it came. I started watching this house many years ago. It was vacant then, abandoned, but I admired its lines, the simplicity of the architecture and the late 19th century style. It might have been salvageable then, but no one loved it enough to undertake the project. It has been sad to watch it weather and crumble. (I understand that the owners reside in another state having long ago forsaken the family heritage.)
Such a beautiful poem and story. It makes me sad.
Lin, there is a modicum of sadness in these reflections because, like the old house when it was serviceable and housed happy people, I have had a good run. But knowing where I am running to takes away the sense of loss I might otherwise feel.
Love that poem, the pix and the comments above. Reminds of a haiku I wrote some time ago.
The house is empty
I hear only the echo
Of what used to be
Your post serves me as a reminder to be grateful for what is.
Chuck, I like your poem. People who are grateful for what is can live happily with what's to come. You are on your way!
Maybe the reason I feel so sad when I see a once beautiful house falling down and decaying is because I internalize it as an image of what is happening to me. Hmmm.
Vee, possibly a metaphor for nearly everything, structures, corporeal beings, and so on. But one thing endures: "Heaven and earth may pass away but. . ."
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