The table waited For the father and mother For the merry children For a splendid dinner Beside the fire Where memories flickered Of roast turkey And hot cocoa And a puppy emerging In a bright parcel Of red and green The festive colors
The walls remember Candle lit evenings Where stories were told Under warm blankets The children would snicker And laugh in glee And excitement As the mother kissed them And the father said good night
The porch reminiscing Bright summer days Where the family Played joyous games And sang with the guitar
The yard misses Seeing the children In clean uniform Marching off to school And coming home With tired smiles
And the rusty old car Creaks his hinges As he weeps Remembering the father Who polished and cleaned During dusty days
And the curtains were weary For they wanted to move To let sunlight in To recapture moments When the family Would chase each other Around the house Playing hide and seek Shrieking and exclaiming In happy voices
The old tree so ancient Bent over the house Missing when the son Would climb his branches And when in night He watches them in silence Camping under his leaves Huddling each other In warm plump arms And when the tree Peeks in the window He would see the daughters Gladly dressing up For birthday parties
And the doghouse The wooden old doghouse Falling apart Looks at the past At a little puppy Licking at his bone And then coming out With dozens of other puppies
And the dusty floorboards Weak and brittle Will creak at night Remembering footsteps Entering and leaving The grandiose proud door With a bronze doorknob
And a chandelier would clink When the wind passes Filling the house With flashbacks Of a new baby Of graduations And weddings And then of noise Noises of fun And laughter And giggles
They cannot remember The blind day When everyone vanished Not a letter of goodbye Not a wave of the hand No words no memories Nothing Sadness and peace once again
They all sighed As the sun vanished In the edge of the neighborhood They all wept For the old wood In the middle of everyone Waiting for the family The sad dining table With ashes and burnt chairs The table waited...