It wasn't what it was supposed to be
No fond embraces
The echo of old voices
But nobody speaking
No little white house
Green-shuttered and
White-picket two-point-fives
Instead there's an old yellow house
The Widow,
Melancholy and ailing
And the Bachelor
Rundown, depressed and nauseated
It's hard to spot who
is taking care of whom
Don't get me wrong
It's a nice house
Warm, early seventies style
Fireplace
Narrow staircase
Kitchen telling
Tales of frozen dinners
Diet shakes and soda
And cigarettes bought
To quit the chew
Pot and pan memorials
Hanging ghostlike and dusty
It's interminable, but
It's hard to care.