For three score years

He'd lived within the same four walls,

And had paid them no attention.

Through their strength,

And his will,

Gentle shelter

Had been laid before his precious Rose

And their four madcap children.

 

Tempests wild,

Demons tall,

Bailiffs vain,

Vermin small,

Ne'er do wells

And know-it-alls,

Each were repelled

From within those walls.

 

And gaily the days skipped by.

 

In time, the madcap four moved on

And the walls were left to absorb

The contented sounds of

Tom and Rose, as together they grew older.

Until the day that the walls themselves

Became the focus

For the teary eyes

Of the lonely survivor.

 

Pointless days,

Endless nights,

Unwashed dishes

Piled high.

No call

"I'm back",

No laugh, no sigh,

She'd gone

Before he'd said goodbye.

 

And the walls did weep.