Old Houses

old houses know things
they don't speak
they don't have to
they've seen

they know passion
they know gladness
they know laughter
they know sadness

they know pain and solitude
they know dreams and disaster
they know hope
they forget those who would be their master

whether alone or waiting for the next
they stand in granduer
or in waste and debris
it won't matter

they will go as time dictates
never again to be seen
old houses never tell all their stories
and that's a good thing

A.G. Champlin 8/5/07