The old front porch



Ashen boards creaking brittle
Her moaning greets as a returning friend
With aromas of the rotting timber
My second step to bow and bend

Phantom kids I see, sit upon the squeaky rusty swing
And all alone the rocking chair …
Aging, graying with thickening dust
Gaze off across the yard from where they both just sit and stare

Weeds, the new homesteaders…
Filling every crack of vacancy
Door and screens cringing, hang on to every hinge
Up above the nestled mocking birds can’t help but exercise their laughing agency

Behind them and under roof…
Click, click, click… the squirrels with storing nuts
Running in and out of unknotted holes
While spiders spin in every nook

Prehistoric Rain barrels…
Spilling over ancient emerald green
My boyhood house front
I hold in high esteem

Of times I played here in the morn and in the eve
This veranda within my heart I hold a special torch
Of all the dreams I dreamed here
 Upon this my favorite but, now decaying rustic porch

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Submitted on May 02, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

51 sec read
4

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA XBXB XCXC XXXX XXXX XDXD
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 951
Words 171
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Nighttiger

A fortyish native born all American man. Married twice and for the last time. I have four children; Three daughters and one son that are all over the age of eighteen. I also have two grandchildren; one three years old and one nine months old. Inspired by God, tragedy, life's experiences and then a fairy tale love. I never intentionally set out to write poetry, but "She" inspired me. "She" meaning the love of my life. That love is a passion that after thirteen years still grows stronger each and every day. It eventually had to be put into writing. As I wrote poetry to her, she encouraged me to approach other subjects. Doing so brought me to discover that poetry could wash away the bitter tastes of life (suicide, cancer, and divorce) that were still living like demons inside me. So when poetic therapy brought those impish fiends to a stalemate, I began to experiment more. Creating fictional characters and situations within my works. The support of this online community has inspired me even further to continue to hone my writing skills giving the readers the best that I can offer. Thanks to all you out there in Lulu land. more…

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