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Open Poetry #14
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VAS
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-11-16
Posts 7450
Oregon

0 posted 2001-06-29 10:32 AM


Of Those Who Knew
Virginia Salter

I watched
how bit by bit it was disassembled
wall by wall
board by board
window by window
the panes
from which surely pains
peered out,
passers-by peered in

where once was light,
mirth, merriment,
sorrow,
wonder, anticipation, fear, agony,
voices, songs, tears

plank by plank
remnants of love, birth, growth,
ignorance, learning,
had all been a part of the history there,
taken down,
laid waste in a heap
in the belly of a dump truck, waiting to be deposited
where old lives are left to rot in the sun
beneath the sands of ‘sanitation’

having scraped away
all evidence of what had gone before
there now stands
a building, sterile, untouched by living
or industry
waiting to be its birth place
someone’s excitement for the new,
the grand endeavor
of their lives, their futures,
not in any way mindful
of what had lain in the ruins
just before the ground-breaking---
whispers of history
silenced, save in the hearts of those who knew

© June 28, 2001

© Copyright 2001 Virginia Salter - All Rights Reserved
Cpat Hair
Deputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Patricius
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793

1 posted 2001-06-29 10:51 AM


change... and the loss of old things which while important to some now must seemingly be wiped away... Enjoyed the perspective..and the twinge it gave me when remembering things now gone...replaced by others.



serenity blaze
Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738

2 posted 2001-07-06 01:19 AM


Yes...I share your sadness. I love houses and can "feel" the life that harbored them, and...sigh...yes, I'm the kind of idiot that would spend a bundle to save a house of dubious financial profit.  This deserves another go round, the sanctity of home should never be taken for granted--by anyone.
Interloper
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-11-06
Posts 8369
Deep in the heart
3 posted 2001-07-06 10:06 AM


The dying and death of a house and home.  Well done.
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