Home » Poems » Richard Lamoureux » Kaufman Factory

Kaufman Factory

The old Kaufman footwear factory
with it's grand entryway
Marble floors
Granite counters
Important people use to walk it's halls

Pictures of the founders had lined the walls
Intimidating, dressed in three piece suits
holding somber expressions
masters of a previous time

I walk down the halls
to the workers domain
stepping across pieces of debris on the factory floor
Calloused hands had run these machines
building work boots and futures that have all but dissapeared
The jobs
Good paying jobs
Union Jobs
Gone
A cities pulse slowed
Hopes dashed
Silenced

The glass from the windows lay broken on the floor
Wind echoes through lonely hallways
The rhythm of man and machine have ceased
dreams shattered like the glass

Soon new workers will appear
pulling down the broken pieces
getting rid of the tired machines
dusting away the silken cobwebs
All to make way for the new Condos
Reclaiming a part of history
The past and future will be united
 
Once again these wall will echo with laughter
New dreams to be forged from the rubble
People once again walking down bright hallways
The wind will be kept at bay
until some ancient future day

The grand entryway
Marble floors
Granite countertops
Decked out once again in finery
If the building could speak
she would say
"Come rest your weary heads"
"Celebrate my past"
"Make me your home."

 
Dedicated to Kaufman Footwear a grand building as well as an important
piece of Kitchener Ontario's past. The factory has been converted to condos.

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Poet Destroyer A

Date: 6/22/2014 12:02:00 PM

Richard, Congratulations, enjoyed stopping by to view, every featured poem, on the soups Home Page. Take Care & Have Fun this coming week..... Luve Linda

Robert Lindley

Date: 6/22/2014 10:56:00 AM

Love this great tribute write my friend. BBBBBravooooooooooo!!!!! I think greater is the previous entity that gave the ability to work to live. So sad so many are now shipped overseas leaving only remnants and often scars.

Richard D Seal

Date: 10/12/2013 8:22:00 PM

We see so many of these great old buildings going this way Rick, nice if they can save and convert them but sad too that they no longer buzz with productivity, we all realise modernisation is needed but it's a shame at the cost of so many jobs. Really liked the way you praised this building as a monument to past and future. Take care, Richard

Richard Lamoureux
Date: 10/15/2013 10:58:00 AM

Thanks again Richard.

Monterey Sirak

Date: 10/10/2013 9:04:00 AM

What a nice tribute to something grand and old that has changed and not been left to decay into the realm of the past.

Richard Lamoureux
Date: 10/10/2013 9:29:00 AM

I was starting to wonder if anyone would comment on this one. I appreciate you being the first to express your thoughts.