Visiting the Home Place

Visiting the Home Place By Elton Camp I went back to see the old home place this year For no location on earth is, to me, nearly so dear My grandfather built the house with his own hands Despite the passing years, I have heard it still stands Its grounds he tended and trimmed with loving care I hope that his shrubbery and flowers are still there That it wasn’t the finest around I now understand But in my memory, it was roomy and quite grand The wide front porch where the family sat at night The day’s work done, all seemed calm and right Parlor with stuffed chairs, piano against the wall How fondly, and with such detail, I recall them all Baking prizes my grandmother won at the state fair Now in my house and preserved with greatest care My mother’s bedroom when she was a child It’s where she slept, played, read and smiled Master bedroom where my grandparents slept All these years, their carved bed I have kept Then the dining room with its massive table To seat family and many friends it was able Its shiny marigold carnival glass bowl Was by my mother trusted to my control I protect it on display in my house still And, if possible, hope that we always will The country kitchen, of treats a treasure trove I can vaguely remember a black wood stove The people I so loved are no longer alive By my visit, to honor them, I will strive The once-familiar road I drive with care Knowing that very soon we will be there Perhaps the ones who reside there now Will allow us to tour the house somehow Then, in the distance, its outline I can see Coming closer I cry, “This surely cannot be.” For the place that I once had loved so well Is now an abandoned, collapsing empty shell Where are all the flowers and shrubbery gone? A massive oak, slowing dying, stands alone The fine old barn where, as a child, I’d play Has, long ago, fallen into ruin & rotted away An old adage springs into my mind right then One now seen true, “You can’t go home again.” So I drive slowly on by with the greatest regret Yet, for the memories, I remain forever in debt