our porch is a mess
falling apart
I do not notice it
until the week before we have company
too late to do anything about it now
when did the three pieces of gingerbread fall off?
Where are the missing wind chimes?
I note that it is rather shabby
Some of the boards are warped,
pieces of the railing are falling in
We are not the prissy types
some people would be horrified by this shabbiness
You have heard of shabby chic?
This is shabby EKE!
dead mouse I just noticed
We have hobbies, interests,
Jazzing up our dilapidated porch
is the last thing I want to do.
I do however get rid of the dead rodent.
Categories:
shabbiness, home,
Form: Free verse
On daily basis producing their hyperactive arms
For their better-offs’ less automatic alms:
On lucky charity, therefore, badly dependent,
With things not looking quite resplendent.
The word ‘Pauper’ fitting their circumstance,
Year after year, not exceeding a certain distance.
In their quest for help, increasingly instinctive
And like lawyers, by dress distinctive:
Theirs an unplanned celebration of shabbiness
With a sickening inclination to hairs of shagginess.
Beggars, though there are, who gorgeous clothes put on,
On purpose trying to win onlookers’ good opinion:
The pass-mark of character who channel their pity
To only The Sophisticated in their society.
Still beggars there are by laziness manufactured
On their physique no injuries nor the restructured
Nor, for that matter, the obvious blindness
Nor observable lameness;
Able-bodied men we shouldn’t have assisted,
Until they have persisted
With aspiring tuneful voices aiming to mesmerize us
Or comic displays such as one loves.
Beggars might remain people of lowly station
Further pitted against reduced expectation.
Categories:
shabbiness, endurance, grief, poverty,
Form: Rhyme
The holes aren't equidistant
and the spot welds aren't spot-on,
the varnish on the handle over sixty years has gone.
It lies with all the modern stuff,
their plastic and brushed steel
but for all it's vintage shabbiness
it has a pleasing feel
and does the job time and again
as it's supposed to do,
no reason after all this time to swap
for something new.
Dad made it in his lunch breaks,
such tinkering fulfilled him,
sadly in an environment
that eventually killed him.
Some show their love to their fair wives
with flowers, which is nice,
but true love comes from lasting gifts
like my late Mum's fish slice.
Categories:
shabbiness, love, time,
Form: Rhyme
A transit stands at fifth and Main
Dressed in shabbiness- he stinks and is stained
To passers-by he offers a sign
Disabled American Vet- reads a proud cry
On a kitchen floor a battered wife sits
Her nose bleeds- it just won’t quit
As her husband madly flies out the back door
She blames herself ever the more
As he walks his dog- he reads the poster sign
A little girl is missing- have you seen mine
Another statistic of worldly lustful crime
Perhaps he will see her on a **** five & dime
When viewed from a distance tragedies seem remote
No Compassion is needed-not even hope
We greet one another not by our kissing
We wallow our life in what is truly missing
3/9/12
Categories:
shabbiness, faith, family, fear, forgiveness,
Form: Rhyme