From: My Place [free verse], From Topic ID: 14842 Options

[JustDaniel]

My Place

A place called Yesterday…
where more and more of those
who grew up with me, now
have come to live. It’s there
my sturdy house stands proudly still.
My father spawned it after WWII
of Northwest Douglas-fir,
much like the tyke he planted
way up on the Heights
called Roosevelt, some time
near 1930 – looming now
more than 200 feet above
the sidewalk he initialed.

It is crumbling now, perhaps
to tumble down into the broad
Puyallup Valley, stopping by
to visit Western Washington State Fair
if anyone is there, continue
down the River to the Puget Sound.
That's where we'd visit sometimes
on brisk summer days, go through the old
aquarium, which now is gone,
replaced by one that’s beautiful
but not as welcoming
as that of yore had been.

The Point Defiance Park and Zoo
remind me still that it’s okay
to stand defying all who come
to visit my old house... then say,
"Come in."
Its nails and bolts, now 65 years old
hold it together fast. It’s slow
to moan, but does complain
when winter winds blow hard.
It sways, as if reminded
of some dark or precious thing it hid…
long-since forgotten, now recalled
in tears it daubs, if awkwardly
as quickly as it can.

Whatever hinges that can move
at all, now creak, protesting
every opening, though welcoming
each guest – a wink where once
a smile lit up some room;
now shaded windows let in
little light through pitted panes
that sag, distorting images
of evergreens, whose scents
stretch hard to overpower
the must that age has left.

© MLee Dickens'son 2011

[Psyche]

Hi Daniel,

I believe one can comment now on Odin's poems, since many months have passed.

I read yours the other day, but spent so much time on the links you provided, that I had to run off to bed!

I mean it, you allowed me a most interesting adventure in Washington State. I was hooked on all of the links for quite a while. Fact is, my daughter-in-law and her hubby live in Spokane, so I visited them twice, ever so long ago, along with my husband Carlos, who died 2 years ago. Brought back all sorts of lovely memories. We also stayed a couple of days in Seattle. Except for the climate, I would love to live there. So thanks for that, Daniel!

I visited Spokane once in the summer, and then again in winter, when it was covered in snow. The bus trip from Seattle to Spokane, during a moonlit night, was stunning. We stopped somewhere on the mountains to have coffee and pancakes. The place was full of rednecks having their beers, but we were welcomed nicely... LOL.

Back to your poem, I really don't know whether anybody has read it, but I think it's fantastic. Rather sad, at the end. I feel I can picture your old home perfectly. Is it still there? Is it the one you've been working on? Just curious...

I really think you should move it over to Seren's for others to enjoy. It's a treat to read it. There's a little more activity over there now. Please do.

Cheers, Syl