emptied of family and
furnishings except for
an ornate pool table
with matching chairs
in basement; listen —
sounds of billiard balls
clacking against each
other, stripes vs. solids.
ghostly echos of former
husband vs. wife, each
of different pattern, who
clacked loudly to break;
left single family home
for two separate shelters.
as new occupant peels
off wall-lettering upstairs:
“bless this home with love
and laughter,” she wonders
about — the children.
Laura Bloomsbury hosts dVerse poetics tonight with “house” theme…
a poem in my pocket 
Aug 12, 2021 @ 09:49:26
I like the way you have created a sense of history without being lengthy. Very skilful. I wonder about the children too.
Aug 12, 2021 @ 10:46:40
Thanks for your comments, Sean…much appreciated.
Aug 11, 2021 @ 17:38:05
Oh my heart this is poignant!
Aug 11, 2021 @ 15:19:31
Lynn, great use of the clacking echoes of pool balls to reflect the dissonance between them. Potent imagery of the positive motto that has been covered up. Kids always pay the price.
Aug 11, 2021 @ 20:29:14
All too true…
Aug 11, 2021 @ 14:35:13
Great, insightful poem!
Aug 11, 2021 @ 20:28:45
I appreciate your comment, Helen.
Aug 11, 2021 @ 04:51:35
you have cleverly laid the words out like a corridor! . I like the sounds of the billiards played against the former couple clashing – a sad ending to the poem Lynn, the house, a broken home
Aug 11, 2021 @ 20:27:06
Thanks for prompting this write…cathartic for me in ways I can’t explain.
Aug 11, 2021 @ 02:08:15
Wow! ‘She wonders about the children’ – powerful.
Aug 11, 2021 @ 20:25:25
Thanks, Carol!
Aug 11, 2021 @ 01:09:35
So powerful and tragic.
Aug 11, 2021 @ 20:25:05
Thanks for reading, Lucy.
Aug 10, 2021 @ 21:28:34
You have done very well with this one. I love how the story winds from the couple to the children who take the fall out.
Aug 10, 2021 @ 21:32:06
Thanks, Dwight…I feel for the children hurt by divorce.
Aug 10, 2021 @ 21:42:51
Yes so do I…