Gothica

I bought this house in 1958
straight outa the army
with a VA loan

It's all vintage
from the linoleum
the single pane windows
original tar and gravel roof

You people with your
double pane windows
and fancy heating systems

Wear layers I tell ya, layers
why I can remember when...
Shhhhhh she said

As she laid her velvet gin soaked
fingers across his chapped lips
Shhhhhh she said

As she led his hollowed body
down the dark sweaty hallway
Shhhhh she said

As she held his face up to the mirror
illumined with the only working
light bulb in the house

Shhhhh she said;
The light scalded his sallow face
one tear fell from his squinty eyes
then the mirror quietly cracked in two

Day Light Savings

cows just don’t get it
bellowing at the milking house door
and in the farm house
the dog cocks its head at its empty bowl
and then at the bedroom door
back and forth
as if that was the secret code
which would fill its bowl with kibbles
on the radio talk-show
time is exhausted trying to determine
if daylight really needed to be saved