Wallpaper

The room was dank and dreary The past hung in the air There was a scent of mildew A smell of history was there The paint was old and faded With stains all dark and brown The wallpaper too was dated And it needed to come down It was a home for 50 years That stood so strong and proud It comforted all of our fears Far from the madding crowd We stripped away the paper first Each layer a strip in time It showed the old room at her worst It really seemed a crime To tear it down, and think of when Each layer was first applied The walls that seemed so tall again I just stood there and cried I thought about the birthdays Celebrated in this room Of getting covered all in glaze That we cleaned off with a broom The roses were much redder Than I remembered them to be In fact it now looked better Than it did when I was three I remembered Mother loved this And of how it made her smile And she gave Father a light kiss After toiling all the while The next layer though was not as nice "Twas beige and a sort of lime It made the room feel cold like ice It spoke of another, somber time I looked at the wall and I noticed the lines Marking our heights as we grew This was on a paper all covered in vines Mom loved this one, we knew It seemed surreal that Mom was not here To see these passages pass But we knew in our hearts that she was stil near As we looked at paper covered with Bass That was from when Unlcle Jim came to stay And our folks gave up their room To help out a brother who I still love to this day One who can always help brighten my gloom They changed the wall just for him To make it seem more like it was his They put their life on hold for Jim And the wallpaper choice was his The years pass by more quickly now The paper doesn't change too much Jim moved out and that is how The paper changed just a touch Mom got sick and Dad quit work He did the room in flowers for our mom It was at this time we noticed the rooms quirk One of those things that made you go hmmm Far up in one corner behind a section of curtain Dad had left a small square showing the years worth of papers we were certain It was to help mom with her tears Now as we finished we looked to the man Sitting alone in the old corner chair He smiled at us as best as he can But I don't think he knew we were there I handed him some paper and I looked in his eyes He stared clear on through me And then he started to cry This was the last of this paper he'd see Dad and the house now have gone into dust The years get short and have tapered But to go back in time I know all I must Do, is look at my small square of paper.