THE SADDEST HOME OF ALL

What is it about an abandoned house…

neglected…empty…just sitting there?

What is it about its vulnerability that makes us stop and stare?

Perhaps what makes us pause a while…as across this land we roam

is that we realize it’s not just an abandoned house…

it is an abandoned home.

It’s sad to think this crumbling house has lost its soul…its heart.

And sad to think this one-time home has been left to fall apart

When we see it isolated…lonely…deserted…

it allows our imagination to flow

Since there’s no-one there to tell its story…

there’s so much we’ll never know

But we know there was a story here…

one we cannot disregard…

What happened to the family who lived inside it?

Did children play in its front yard?

Did joy and happiness fill its walls?
Was their laughter…love…and glee?
Did it see its share of pain and suffering?

Did it witness tragedy?

I imagine some homes with people in them 

can be crazy, insane or mad…

can be happy, joyful, supportive 

can be sorrowful or sad.

But as I stand here staring at this old house

with it’s falling roof and decaying walls

I have to wonder if an abandoned house

isn’t the saddest home of all.