Gregory Richard Barden Poet Free verse

Notes About The Poem

This Old House

I - this vacant building, dilapidated by years and cold inadvertence.

    Obscurities dance in my eaves, ravenous belfry bats, scouring dusk -

      Notions, plans, dreams, impulses - the detritus that bloats their bellies.

    Scrawny, gnarled trees about me, bony-fingered limbs clawing, scraping,

Biased, ragged people who assume to know, whose perspectives bleed -

Careless, avaricious purposes, spirits gutted like my stark, graffitied walls.

    YOU shall redeem me ... douse my scaffolding, ignite these timbers ...

      Ravage my whole with conflagration, toss the cooling ashes windward!

    My foundation runs deeper than these trees' tangled roots ... now ...

Raise again, my walls - loving, formidable, joyous, and you ... INSIDE.




Written and submitted on January 25, 2019
For the "Ten Lines Ten Words, Free Verse 1" Poetry Contest
Lu Loo, Judge & Sponsor.

♡Like0

Share Poem

---

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

John Hamilton January 25, 2019 at 8:35 PM Powerful metaphors with unique word pairings detritus that bloats their bellies, don't think that's been said before, epic write! Gregory Richard Barden January 25, 2019 at 8:52 PM Thank you, John - my "odd" sense of sensibilities, I guess, lol. ;-) (There are three meanings there that I needed to get across with one phrase ... I do that a lot)

Vladislav Raven January 25, 2019 at 4:40 AM Hi Gregory, an exceptional write my friend. This would be worthy of winning any contest it was in. The creativity and the content are spot on. You have given this house a life of its own. Such wonderful imagery painted on your canvas. This has to be a fave. Reads like a winner to me. Have a wonderful Friday. Your friend always....Mike. Gregory Richard Barden January 25, 2019 at 8:52 PM Oh, you are very kind, my friend, and I'm so pleased you enjoyed this one ... thank you so much for the thoughtful comments! :-)