OLD ROCKING CHAIR

How sad you look
Old rocking chair
Your flaked grey paint
Speaks of despair
How bleak you are
Old rocking chair
Spindles
Seat
Beyond repair
Only memories now
Of sweet days gone
Of babies cry
And mothers song
Glorious days
When young and strong
Rich life around you
All day long
When
Within your arms
You held such joy
Glorious new life
Girl and boy
Long endless nights
Of gentle sway
Stories, teething
Dreams and play
And you
The centre of all life
Pride of place
Through joy and strife
Abandoned now
All these years on
Mould invades 
Your rotting form
And dust sits heavy
On your seat
As cobwebs creep
Around your feet
But
Look and smile
Old rocking chair
For a tiny mouse
Burrows secret there
Feel the patter now
Of tiny feet
As the spider babies 
Dance
Upon your seat
And woodlice play
On your old bones
So many creatures 
Call you
Home
So glow with pride
Old rocking chair
For sweet new life
Rocks with you there
Marion Price 2018