Saturday, August 28, 2010

the house in the woods


in the house in the woods
there are no clocks

there's no one to tell the time

~

the colour of the leaves

the creaking of the floor

the abandoned nests
of winter mice

the sedimentary layers
of dust

the peeling paint
on the empty chest of drawers

there are stories here
of what once was
and will not be any more

18 comments:

alaine@éclectique said...

I'd love to spend some time there.

Jinksy said...

the sedimentary layers
of dust

You have the exact phrase that I was searching for but couldn't find for the coming week's Poetry Bus prompt!

Elisabeth said...

I can almost smell this scene, touch the paint on the house with my fingers and feel the warmth of sun on my back. thanks, Steven.

steven said...

alaine - it's an old sugar shack - used for rendering down maple sap into syrup. i think a month a year i'd love to move in and write and paint and read and drink tea and listen to the birds and the scurrying sounds on the forest floor. steven

steven said...

jinksy - always pleased to offer a creative spark wherever it's needed. good luck with the poetry bus! steven

steven said...

elisabeth - it's cool to have such a sensory response to an image. steven

CiCi said...

I really like the house in the woods, especially no clocks!

steven said...

hello technobabe! i don't wear a watch. there seem to be plenty of clocks wherever i go. i can live without time except when i am teaching. then time is of the essence. that starts up in a week or so. for now, well i have to check what day it is let alone the date or time!! steven

Linda Sue said...

YES! This is the cabin/house of my dreams- breaks my heart a little because of the "no more" ...the crumbling and pealing can be fixed but the "no more" is ...gone. This poem , sigh...I know this little house of yours.

steven said...

linda sue it's a funny thing, i guess a little house in the woods has been a part of my dream and wishworld for as long as i can remember. there are days when it's all i could wish for - set it up to allow for a good and simple quality of life and that would have to include the ability to support creative output of some sort or another! steven

Rachel Fenton said...

I love the echo of the silver birch tree on the roof, like a giant sun lit snowflake, and again on the lean to, like the whole of the surrounding nature can be reproduced in the experience of seeing and imagining myself in that one house.

steven said...

rachel if it was possible i'd love to revisit this place in the autumn and then again in the winter. it's a fair bike ride to get there - a gorgeous but hard ride. i'd like to see the birch shadows against snow and then also against the backdrop of autumnal colour. steven

Valerianna said...

I pass houses at night - golden light glowing from windows - and wonder what stories are living inside... and when I come across shuttered, empty houses, I wonder what life-echos still live inside....

Cheryl Cato said...

It would be lovely to visit... I wonder if it could be restored to be enjoyed by someone as a writer's haven or an artist's retreat?

Tess Kincaid said...

Wonderful thoughts. You should post this on Magpie Tales. It fits the prompt beautifully.

steven said...

valerianna me too! especially when i'm in the countryside and there's a house tucked way back down a tree-lined drive! steven

steven said...

lizzy - that thought crosses my mind when i see a sweet little place like this. i'm especially drawn to old cabins by rivers. steven

steven said...

willow i'll have a look see. thankyou for your very generous comment on the golden fish blogiversary posting!!! steven