Once you were filled with living

The sounds of celebrations and laughter

Snores in the night, arguments and tears

Your walls holding those snuggling within

Adorned with pictures, children’s paintings

Mirrors reflecting passings from room to room

Kitchens let loose smells rising from wood stoves

Replaced by gas and electric ones as years rolled by

Stairs worn by many footfalls, some fast, some slow

Were sanded down, broken steps replaced, later carpeted

Now your roof is sagging, porches fallen, windows broken

Those who lived here as fractured and faded as their memories

You fall into lonely disrepair, no one left to care for you

As time slips into another era where everything is new and fast

And flashy that will ebb and disappear, receding into a distant past of

Lost manifestations to be forgotten when they are no longer of consequence