There is some old blood on the carpet in the dining room

Where I once cut my hand

Snow on the roof and frost in beautiful floral patterns

On the glass of windows that have survived

There is ash long dead in the fireplace

Where the rain now comes down the chimney

In slanting waves

In the bathroom the chalk white tiles are smeared with somebody else’s lies

And the bath has rust stains down the side from the taps now stuck fast

 

In the rooms with beds the paper is peeling and the beds all weak

A couple have legs missing and one has no spring left in its life

Some of the windows are smashed

And pigeons have settled in one room

Our room making it their own

Through a hole in the roof and broken ceiling plaster and joists

The bed where you and I once laid is still there with pillows sheets and covers

Feathers left to float and blow across the universe

Strewn in awkward places

Like you now hard to reach

 

Seagull’s have been dancing across the roof

Trying to form their own club

Now one is nesting in the lounge

Pecking at my head

I have no idea how it got in

The rats have all gone trying to find somewhere warm and dry to proliferate

The stairs are leaning to one side

And the entrance hall floor is creaking cracking and rotting

 

But the walls are straight as a die

And the foundations are as solid as they day they were laid

The slates I have started replacing

The toilet now flushes

The windows I am reglazing

The doors with new hinges I am rehanging

I have become my own carpenter with stairs skirting and floors

Paint and plaster are my watch words

As I brush and spread in even confident strokes

 

The seagulls will stay awhile longer

Until the smile you recently gave me across a crowded room

Becomes a full-bodied grin

So, I can bang the last nail in

And call this place that I occupy

Yours and mine

When you come home

To lay in the bed we together once made

Again

There is some old blood on the carpet in the dining room

Where I once cut my hand

Snow on the roof and frost in beautiful floral patterns

On the glass of windows that have survived

There is ash long dead in the fireplace

Where the rain now comes down the chimney

In slanting waves

In the bathroom the chalk white tiles are smeared with somebody else’s lies

And the bath has rust stains down the side from the taps now stuck fast

 

In the rooms with beds the paper is peeling and the beds all weak

A couple have legs missing and one has no spring left in its life

Some of the windows are smashed

And pigeons have settled in one room

Our room making it their own

Through a hole in the roof and broken ceiling plaster and joists

The bed where you and I once laid is still there with pillows sheets and covers

Feathers left to float and blow across the universe

Strewn in awkward places

Like you now hard to reach

 

Seagull’s have been dancing across the roof

Trying to form their own club

Now one is nesting in the lounge

Pecking at my head

I have no idea how it got in

The rats have all gone trying to find somewhere warm and dry to proliferate

The stairs are leaning to one side

And the entrance hall floor is creaking cracking and rotting

 

But the walls are straight as a die

And the foundations are as solid as they day they were laid

The slates I have started replacing

The toilet now flushes

The windows I am reglazing

The doors with new hinges I am rehanging

I have become my own carpenter with stairs skirting and floors

Paint and plaster are my watch words

As I brush and spread in even confident strokes

 

The seagulls will stay awhile longer

Until the smile you recently gave me across a crowded room

Becomes a full-bodied grin

So, I can bang the last nail in

And call this place that I occupy

Yours and mine

When you come home

To lay in the bed we together once made

Again

There is some old blood on the carpet in the dining room

Where I once cut my hand

Snow on the roof and frost in beautiful floral patterns

On the glass of windows that have survived

There is ash long dead in the fireplace

Where the rain now comes down the chimney

In slanting waves

In the bathroom the chalk white tiles are smeared with somebody else’s lies

And the bath has rust stains down the side from the taps now stuck fast

 

In the rooms with beds the paper is peeling and the beds all weak

A couple have legs missing and one has no spring left in its life

Some of the windows are smashed

And pigeons have settled in one room

Our room making it their own

Through a hole in the roof and broken ceiling plaster and joists

The bed where you and I once laid is still there with pillows sheets and covers

Feathers left to float and blow across the universe

Strewn in awkward places

Like you now hard to reach

 

Seagull’s have been dancing across the roof

Trying to form their own club

Now one is nesting in the lounge

Pecking at my head

I have no idea how it got in

The rats have all gone trying to find somewhere warm and dry to proliferate

The stairs are leaning to one side

And the entrance hall floor is creaking cracking and rotting

 

But the walls are straight as a die

And the foundations are as solid as they day they were laid

The slates I have started replacing

The toilet now flushes

The windows I am reglazing

The doors with new hinges I am rehanging

I have become my own carpenter with stairs skirting and floors

Paint and plaster are my watch words

As I brush and spread in even confident strokes

 

The seagulls will stay awhile longer

Until the smile you recently gave me across a crowded room

Becomes a full-bodied grin

So, I can bang the last nail in

And call this place that I occupy

Yours and mine

When you come home

To lay in the bed we together once made

Again