someone’s forgotten cottage

 

 

walking in the woods

I discovered

an old deserted cottage

 

weeds and thicket grew all around

the windows were gone

old curtains blew in the

breeze seeming to enjoy their

almost freedom

 

old chairs sitting in front

of the cottage wasting away

in the rain sun and snow

 

if I look hard enough might

I get a glimpse of the old couple

who lived within these humble walls

 

if I listen to the silence

might I hear a baby cry

a child laugh

a mother washing clothes

on an old scrub board

 

were the curtains sewn from

feed sacks by the woman

was the old cottage built by the man

 

were there kids in this tiny 

cottage and possibly a dog a cat

 

was there a small loft

where the kids slept snuggled 

to stay warm on cold winter nights

 

was there love in this cottage

enough to meet the struggles of

daily wear and tear on the family

 

we will never know who lived here

or why they left 

 

parts of it have

somehow survived the

decay of the elements

over the decades

 

we can live with the

ones who lived here if

only in our imaginations