The House Behind the Years
Frozen vines
leaves black and curled
strung over the porch.
Snow
sifted across the living room floor.
Winter sky
filling holes in the ruined roof
an incurious gray ceiling
for damp-softened walls
blooming with mold.
The bathroom sink
the stopper yanked off the chain
fallen from the wall.
The kitchen
floored in black tiles
slanting into the basement.
Your breath
a cloud in the cold.
12/19/19
Claudia McGill Writes Poetry, Did You Know That? 
I love the sense of decay and neglect in this poem. It’s very poignant but also reminds me of the type of abandoned places I like to explore.
A vivid scene!
Thank you. It was inspired by a falling down cottage behind the carwash next to where I park for the Pennypack Trail that I use so often. In summer you cannot see the building because of the overgrowth, but in winter…it is exposed. I have not been to the house (it’s not acessible) but I imagined…
The winter sky filling holes in the ruined roof is spectacular imagery!
Thank you. This house is a tiny abandoned cottage on the ground behind a carwash, in a flood plain, so it is just being left to fall down. It got me thinking…