Skip to main content

AN OLD COUPLE'S HOUSE

 AN OLD COUPLE'S HOUSE

An Old Couple’s House


 Have you ever been in an old couple’s house?

Tis really a grand sight to see

It’s an eclectic assortment of Ma  and Pa Kettle

With a little bit of Fibber McGee.


There are trashcans and Kleenex beside every chair

Newspapers on tables stacked high

There are piles of books waiting for a” just in case” moment

And lamps bright for tired old eyes


There are antiques and junque everywhere that you look

And most are covered with dust

And visitors have no comprehension

Why we keep them, but we know we must


Each one a reminder of days now gone by

All the things we have loved through the years

No meaning for others, but to us they are gold

In our memories they bring happy tears


The dishes are old, with faded vintage design

The cups and the saucers don’t match

The bowls of all sizes lopsidedly sit

Now they’re part of just one mingled batch.


The bed with mixed patterns of pillows and sheets

Sits between bedside tables that hold

All the pills that are needed for pain and for sleep

There’s a quilt at the foot for night cold


The walls are covered with pictures so precious

Each one tells a story of “when”

When we lived in “that house”, when we had “that cat”

When young daughter had the missing tooth grin;


There are baby pictures there, now of three generations

And wedding pictures, handsome groom, pretty bride

All reminders of the many miles of this journey

That we’ve travelled and still side by side.


The curtains aren’t new and the walls need some paint

And the carpet is definitely faded

The windows won’t open and the plumbing can leak

And the furniture is very outdated


The recliners and rockers show signs of their age

But comfort only matters by now

They know our bodies and we know their soft places

So to these time adjustments we bow


There’s no use denying old age coming on

We’re comfortable in this wrinkled skin

Our faces show laugh lines and worry crinkles too

What we’ve seen and the places we’ve been


So to us this is home, we’re not ready to leave

Though we know we can’t live forever

For as long as we last, we’ll enjoy the past

And the future, til life’s ties we sever.


© Joan Rowden Hart 2017



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Passion

  “Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age”..  (James Joyce) I’ve often been accused of being too passionate, of caring too much about certain things.  But I believe that  passion, also defined as fervor or zeal, is  one of the essential core values of human life, along with the Apostle Paul’s Biblical list of the virtues of faith, hope and charity.  Passionate people have strong opinions and usually articulate them very well.  We are also perfectionists, and we don’t handle incompetence in the public arena very well, all of which tend to preclude us from being the most popular person in the room.  I long ago accepted the fact that I won’t have the largest funeral in Lebanon, nor will my obituary make the front page. But not everyone seems to care that much about anything other than their own lives.  T.S. Eliot once said, “It is obvious that we can no more explain pas...
Post a Comment
Read more

COMMUNION ON THE MOON

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. (Melody Beattie) Americans need a day dedicated to gratitude. I have noticed that in the lineup of most of our holidays that Thanksgiving is perhaps the one least given over to secularism - the one we still observe in a traditional fashion. We need it to keep our focus clear and to teach our children what it means to be thankful for family, friendship and faith. We need a time to gather around the table with extended family and enjoy turkey and dressing and gravy, two kinds of potatoes, cranberries, hot rolls, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie and whipped cream. We need it, not for the calories, but to create an awareness that there are those who don’t have those blessings, because in the hectic pace of our everyday lives we tend to forget those in need. Family and food are important, but above all else, Americans need a rededication to our faith. Faith brought the pilgrims to the ne...
Post a Comment
Read more

ANNIE, THE CAT'S MEOW

  I first met Annie back in February 2004 after Milan told me to let him know what I wanted for for Valentine’s Day and he promised would get it for me no matter what it was. He has often joked that he should have have put some conditions on that. But he didn’t, and so I headed straight to the Humane Society animal shelter. It had been two long years since we had put our beloved Maine Coon cat to sleep, a big pile of what appeared to be nothing but fur, but had a huge heart hidden inside. We had named him Ollie in honor of Col. Oliver North who was our news hero at the time. I entered the cat compound at the Humane Society. There were only two cats inside, a brown tabby who ran to the other side of the pen away from me, and a little black and white girl who came running over to me and when I picked her up, she snuggled her head under my chin and began to purr. It was love at first sight. She was new there and they had not given her a name so I called her Annie. She was alway...
Post a Comment
Read more