<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><div><b>“To An Old House”</b> by Rick W. Cotton</div><div><br></div><div>What have you seen in your hundred years?</div><div>If asked, what would you say,</div><div>Of the dozen families that lived in your walls,</div><div>Of the hundreds of children at play?</div><div>Did the boys slide down the bannister rail,</div><div>To a mother’s angry scolding?</div><div>How many laughs, and how many tears</div><div>Have marked the years unfolding?</div><div>Every time a floorboard creaks,</div><div>The sound tells a story.</div><div>A hundred summers in their heat,</div><div>A hundred Christmas glories.</div><div>Here in this kitchen, a dozen mothers</div><div>Have left their stories behind.</div><div>Open the cupboards, look and see,</div><div>There a tale you’ll find.</div><div>Old recipe on yellowed paper,</div><div>Phone numbers scribbled on doors,</div><div>A catalog from ’65,</div><div>1950’s floors.</div><div>A hundred years of living,</div><div>These walls have seen each day.</div><div>A dozen families loved this place,</div><div>Then, sadly, moved away.</div><div>And now you sit, empty, forlorn.</div><div>Your dusty halls are still.</div><div>But memories linger in these walls,</div><div>And memories always will.</div><div>Do ghosts hide here, in your shadows?</div><div>Are there secrets, hidden well?</div><div>Oh, that you could only speak,</div><div>The tales that you could tell.</div><div>To walk your halls in quiet step,</div><div>Just listen, hear the story</div><div>That an old house can clearly tell,</div><div>In matchless oratory.</div><div>“I am the years gone by, and yet,</div><div>I welcome you within! </div><div>This empty house can be your home!</div><div>A new tale can begin!”</div></div><div><br></div>———————————————<br><br><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><br></div></div></body></html>