House!

The windows up on the second floor

Peered out through the mist at dawn,

Through what seemed a couple of eyelids,

Peeping out, when the blinds were drawn,

They scanned to the far horizon

Past the billows and foaming waves,

As if to seek a solution

As they scowled from their architraves.

‘How long, how long,’ was the question that

Had hung in the air for years,

How long to a sure destruction like

A fabric, when it tears?

The sea surged up to its doorstep with

The king tide at its peak,

And whispered its evil mantra, ‘House!

You haven’t another week.’

The House had stood five hundred years,

It had seen them come and go,

The coaches bringing their ministers

Of church and state, below,

Armies had been sequestered there

Beneath the sheltered eaves

Conspiring to hide the redcoats ‘til

The rebels made them leave.

It had sheltered friend and foe in there,

And had made no judgement call,

Its spacious rooms had been welcoming

To anyone there at all,

But now that its greatest enemy

Was surging at the lea,

‘Who will come to my aid at last

To save me from the sea?’

The time was once when the sea lay back

A mile or so from the shore,

But long decades of its slow attack

Saw it conquer, more and more,

Its progress so very gradual

That some generations hence,

Each single lifetime lost just yards

From its seaward farmland fence.

A wall of sticks and boulders rose

That the sea had overcome,

Had buried under its surges while

The work was being done,

A hill of sand and flotsam that

Was bound by bush and tree,

But the sea reclaimed its contraband

Washed the sand back out to sea.

And now, five hundred years had gone

The tide lapped at the brick,

And softened the old foundations as

The window-eyes looked bleak,

The king tide then had abated and

Sank back, to mutter its lack,

‘Have no fear,’ it grated, ‘House!

For I shall be coming back!’

But with the sea lying dormant,

Men approached with great machines,

With bulldozers and graders and

Huge tip-trucks in a stream,

And when the sea had resumed again

With its king tide of assault,

It beat forlorn on a concrete wall

With pathways of asphalt.

The windows up on the second floor

Peered out through the mist at dawn,

Through what seemed a couple of eyelids,

Peeping out, when the blinds were drawn,

The rain had hidden a couple of tears

As the House had heard men say:

‘We have to preserve our history,

And keep the sea in the bay!’ 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[TL Boehm]

I've always thought that buildings had something akin to a soul. At least a personality - and this one you brought to life so well. The inexorable ebb and flow of time against things - bits and pieces erode - forever becomes forgotten.... a wonderful tale here.

[TPK Stories]

Another good read as always, David....

[Thomas Fitzgerald]

A telling tale of history and her excited phases, well done, good read.

[David Scott]

I like this one David. It reads fine as a literal preservation of a historical site. Naturally I apply the story to metaphysical interpretations as well...
We all have many forces eroding our foundations. It takes a collaborative effort for humanity to reach it's greatest expressions and to preserve our integrity as a species.
Fabulous as usual.

[R Smith]

a good tale of man fighting to overcome the destruction of nature and winning this time, would it not be good if we could bring aid and relief to all in these circumstances, well written David, another great poem :)

[roarke]

The shelter against the storm. Archetypical conflicts that you handle with ease. Ah, the preserving of history....seems more noble in the preserving of pure structure than history book words.... your fourth stanza says it all. Nice piece David.

[Marie]

Well, I really hope it works. But the sea is very powerful. The house may be ssafe for another five hundred years, but eventually Neptune will triumph.

[MomzillaNC]

This is a beautiful piece. The imagery and story telling are amazing. You're words gave such life to it, I could almost picture myself as that house. Really superb.

[Alicia Schroeder]

Another amazing write my friend.. :)