Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Jagged/Smooth & Lack/Abundance



The brown cobbled bricks are smooth from the wear
of one hundred years of walkers, cars, horses.

The jagged boundary of brick and grass is not easy
to discern, but there are those that think that is the beauty

of antique cobblestone in this on the cusp section of town. 
This is where affluent people lived in abundance– back in the day.

There was no lack of arbors and gazebos,
servants quarters, or even a kitchen set away from the house

to prevent the fires from spreading to the home place. 
That was then, this is now. The houses are being restored,

so many are restored to the beauty they once were.
The area brings back the look and feel of another gentler

time. That’s what we tell ourselves when we think
of what it must have been like. Kids and adults languish

on huge front porches again and we drive by to see
the progress of another old dame, this one all pink

with white trim, two stories,  and a playroom for the
kids built in. The TV room for the adults in a separate building

and when I saw the Starbucks area on a tour I laughed
because I lost my way between that and the Eagles banners.

The revitalization is a wonder.  But the streets will remain
for they are still a big draw in this marvelous hodge-podge.


9 comments:

Hannah Gosselin said...

For me, your opening two lines really drew me right in and that is a wonderful quality. The rest carried me right along, you have such a beautiful way of writing!

Mary said...

Judy, I loved all of the details you have shared here! They definitely make your poem come alive.

Peggy said...

Wonderful description of a neighborhood being revitalized Judy. Love the details.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Oh you made me envision those old grande houses, back in the day.......a lovely read!

kaykuala said...

We are brought back to the grandeur of old, how nice Judy! Thanks for the memories!

Hank

Anonymous said...

Your words took me on a journey
Thank you!

Victoria said...

Hodgepodge is marvellous, all the touches of all the different ers- people's ever changing ideas of what is pretty and desirable. I love your inference that we only like to think it was a gentler era back then.

Ann said...

Don't you wish you had some of the stories of places like this! I want to see it.

Rebecca said...

beautiful I loved the journey