The man and his young daughters
Enter the old house in Pine Acres
Of ramshackle walls and jaded paint
Old furniture sitting in dark corners
The house is filled of ancient chill
People and servants move about and mill
They chat aloud, gobble food and laugh
While the furniture sits old and still
In a dark corner sits an old dowager
A quiet, dilapidated, still creature
She stirs, moves, blinks but little
Just like the old lifeless furniture
As people walk by and look at her
They nod sometimes but mostly ignore
Grandma sits still and says nothing
Just like the old lifeless furniture
The young girls, loving this house here
Come upon the woman in the dark corner
Say "hello" and pause in their tracks
And watch the lady in the old furniture
The chair stirs to life, starts to swing
The cold joints shiver, begin warming
A smile spreads on the wrinkled face
The dark corner is now lit up and moving
The old woman gets up with some effort
Glides to the kitchen now all alert
Grabs a jar of old-fashioned goodies
Feeds the young girls pretty in skirt
Hand in hand they walk to the garden
Sit on the new furniture under the Sun
The lady tells stories, the girls listen
Tales of furniture and days forgotten!
Abhay
B. Joshi