Old Furniture

 

The man and his young daughters

Enter the old house in Pine Acres

Of ramshackle walls and jaded paint

Old furniture sitting in dark corners

 

The house is filled of ancient chill

People and servants move about and mill

They chat aloud, gobble food and laugh

While the furniture sits old and still

 

In a dark corner sits an old dowager

A quiet, dilapidated, still creature

She stirs, moves, blinks but little

Just like the old lifeless furniture

 

As people walk by and look at her

They nod sometimes but mostly ignore

Grandma sits still and says nothing

Just like the old lifeless furniture

 

The young girls, loving this house here

Come upon the woman in the dark corner

Say "hello" and pause in their tracks

And watch the lady in the old furniture

 

The chair stirs to life, starts to swing

The cold joints shiver, begin warming

A smile spreads on the wrinkled face

The dark corner is now lit up and moving

 

The old woman gets up with some effort

Glides to the kitchen now all alert

Grabs a jar of old-fashioned goodies

Feeds the young girls pretty in skirt

 

Hand in hand they walk to the garden

Sit on the new furniture under the Sun

The lady tells stories, the girls listen

Tales of furniture and days forgotten!

 

 

Abhay B. Joshi