Empty windows speak rebuke
beside the country two-lane road,
paint peels and tin rusts and curls
on roof that no longer shelters living hearts.
Lean and list, yet still upright
the house stands as testament
to times and living long since done while
shadows of the present brush old walls.
There was the garden, there the pump
to sweet well water far below
there is the barn, no springtime rush
of birthing cows and clucking hens
The home forgotten stands alone
as evening traffic rushes by,
the gate swings open but not one soul
comes to visit in the past.
Photos by Haley Ford, May 16, 2008
Sue,
ReplyDeleteThis tugged my heart strings. My dear mother just this month lost everything to fire. Her home and memorabilia are gone. Thank God all the family and their pets are safe, but they escaped with what clothes they had on, everything else was destroyed. If it had not been for the quick thinking of my niece and her husband, we might have lost her as well.
I believe Haley has a future as a photographer! Great shots.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous words and gorgeous shots. Old houses, lonely houses, forgotten houses - they are so sad and so fascinating to me at the same time. Truly makes me wish walls could talk. There was a little house down the road from us that we use to call "The House that Cried."
ReplyDeleteThanks to all for your comments. Sandy, I am so sorry for your mother's loss--there are so many important things in a home---not necessarily worth money, but important to those who want to remember.
ReplyDeleteI am always intrigued by empty houses. I wonder why no one lives there, especially if the house is obviously very old, or in good condition. Driving across US Rt 33, there are so many of these homes, left to rot into the ground, covered with vines--but with the iris still blooming at the gate. Why did they leave? Where are their children and family who should be living there? Who were these people whose dented mailbox hangs forlornly from its post? What crops did they raise? How many children did they have? Did they play music or pray? I have so many questions, and no answers.