From the long past

        Remnant of the Broken Past
                              (210 Mason Court)

And I become aware of the musty odor lingering
               in the shadowed room;
The bare pieces of scant furniture being eclipsed
        by the somber dimness of the stale shadows.

I am before a smudged window-
       various prints proclaiming their past
                         presence here.
Threadbare curtains-once of flowering color-
       hang...testimony of the proceeding.
The dull glow of the sun hangs precariously
                   above the pecans and pines.
          Night steals forward from the east,
                   quickly enveloping the household.

I stand, hands clenched behind behind my back,
       and sadly look around at the unkempt room-
                    the dust and the cobwebs
               collecting and collecting.
And the years of strain are telling their tale on my face.

---But the ones outside go on unseeing, unfeeling...
    And I am here.

Ernie, 1978