To Save This Broken House
written by: Jackie Oldham
So much needs to be done
A battle never won.
Floors creak, windows leak in
the cold, the heat, the bugs creeping in
through the breach.
My teeth are breaking free
From gums that held them tight.
My newly restored eyes
sprout floaters obscuring
the light–
or was it a stray fly?
Paint peels hanging from the
ceiling. Skin peels from my
fingers. No cure can I
find for either flaw, the
price to fix, too rich.
The room called Grey Gardens,
once known as my bedroom,
is now a museum
for things that do not fit–
Clothes and jewelry are
much too large or too small.
Shelves filled with VHS
and DVD movies,
the machines to play them,
broken and obsolete.
Spider webs in the corners,
hung from the ceiling fan.
Expired lotions and old,
broken jewelry lie
upon the dusty top
of the bureau, layered
with coins so dirty they
cannot be cleaned and spent.
But the coins I can save
I spend on sweets and treats.
What does a house or a
body matter? For, no
matter what we may do–
Repair, or let it rot,
In the end, we return
to stardust, whence we came.
- To Save This Broken House - December 9, 2024
- By Choice, I Live Alone - April 13, 2024
- All These Things Are Broken - August 17, 2022
