Selling the House ~

What will happen to the paintings
when the house is up for sale
and an auction's taking place?

Will strangers stand around
on hardwood floors
twisting scratches into varnished oak
as bids dislodge our silent storytellers
from walls they spoke from
like windows opening
on worlds we longed for
and dreamed about?

Ah, won't all those
hand-clasped chins thrown back
and judgment noddings
frighten our poor shy
Maiden at the Stream,
fetching water as she did
for us daily to watch,
teaching us what beauty was,
and what it meant for us?

Had ever a day passed
without our glancing up at her
gladdened by her being there,
ne'er thinking she could part.

What will we encounter
when feisty bargainers
stand sceptically calculating 
before making each prize their own,
then shuffling off with it
unconscious of the pain they caused? 

Ah, when that day comes

we will stay standing there  
staring at hooks and nails
in empty faded rectangles and squares
regretting we let the paintings go, 

now smarting under its devasting effect.