Cozy Contemplations - 1. Scrawls

Cozy Contemplations

Chapter 1 Scrawls

I could never ignore the writings on these walls

Faded scribbles and gouges from another time

Prophetic expressions of the grownups to come

I move around this quiet, slumbering room

Once shared by two boisterous brothers

And see only beauty in the marred finish

Crude hearts, flowers, and stickmen adorn

Sure proof my daughters lent their hands

To the time-worn and child-like decorations

Behind the bed is a line of crooked houses

While the dresser hides four printed signatures

And, God knows what that is… a horse? A dog?

I can still picture blanket forts and cardboard caves

In a room that needs attention in the worst way

But I can’t bring myself to desecrate such a shrine

My kids and their laughter live in this room still

Though they’ve long moved on to other places

The scrawls they once thought cleverly hidden

Are reminders of little arms around my neck

Sleeping, comatose bodies carried gently to bed

And kisses planted on soft and rosy cheeks

I wouldn’t paint over a Michelangelo, would I?

And these are no less masterpieces to my eyes

Drawn in that quicksilver time of innocence and wonder

As long as this is my house, the refresh can wait

These walls are a book to be cherished over and over

For there are a thousand treasured stories here

I’ll change those curtains, though

To slatted wooden blinds I think

And that multi-striped rug really has to go….