The Winter of Your Life

Note: This poem was written for the Ode to Ordinary Challenge. The Prompt: Write an ode to an ordinary object.

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We met in the Winter of your life

Wrinkles creeping across your surface

Like forks of lightning painting a charcoal sky

Your features were frozen in a frown

Fabric torn like a canvas

❀

Your home was a workplace

With greying walls where

Sunlight was trapped on the

Other side of a dead-bolted door

❀

Spiderwebs wove patterns

Around your wheels

But still, you moved

With the loyalty of that

Which has always carried others

Always living for the journey

As well as the destination

Squealing at every departure

And sighing at every arrival

❀

Dust clung in layers

To every part of you

Ice frosted over a window

Tattoos drawn on skin

But you still provided

A safe place to rest

A haven amidst a purgatory

❀

Wars raged on the other side

Of your house

Battles were lost on the other side

Of the lunchroom walls

But still, you stayed

Awaiting weary legs

And wearier minds

❀

Friendships made

The dark atmosphere brighter

Unlocking the door and

Letting in a sliver of light

That on some days turned

To a sea of golden sunshine

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You were stolen and

Hidden and returned as

Fake alliances were forged

And feigned trust was broken on

Deadly days of workplace fun

(And an attempt to forget about

The minefield beneath our feet)

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And then they threatened

To throw you away

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Your house was renovated

The drab interior turned

An unblemished white

Old friends around you

Too torn to stay

Identical and mundane chairs

Arriving in their stead

The tables replaced

With ash coloured rivals

❀

They said you wouldn't fit in

But I never had

And you'd never cared

You were there for me

When the dragon on

The other side of the wall

Burned bodies to corpses

And prowled past the

Knights in a poor disguise

They never bothered to

Look past

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You were there when

The snakes slithered everywhere

Tying themselves in knots

Trying to poison people with

Their own misery

(Tying my noose tighter)

❀

You were there when

The gossip and gaslighting

Hypocrisy and blame

Drove me to near insanity

(Not as extreme as theirs)

❀

When blame was delusionally

Handed out and placed

On the wrong shoulders

You were there

❀

When the yelling and

Accusations lingered and

I stared longingly at the

Invisible jail bars

You were there

You were there

You were there

❀

So I took you home

And commissioned a

Set of armour

Fabric was chosen

Fabric was cut

Fabric was sewn

Fabric was fitted

To your parts

❀

Once you wore it

Your frown was

Wiped away

Sand on a beach

❀

I banished the cobwebs

Brushed off the dust

Photographed you as if I knew...

❀

Every story has a goodbye

❀

Your return didn't contain

Dramatic music or a captive audience

(The good ones never do)

It was as quiet as your loyalty

As underappreciated as you (used to be)

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You survived in the

Slim streak of sunlight

And I looked forward to

Your comfort like a

Battle weary soldier

❀

But still, a war was waged

Still I fought on the frontlines

Bruised but hiding the blemished skin

Shooting out flares and watching

As they were received with

Feigned empathy and

Concealed ignorance

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You stayed and I stayed

And toxicity kept camping

In every spare space

Blood coating a crime scene

❀

You took me to the fridge

And the sink and

Back to the table but

Never away from here

Never somewhere better

❀

And so I said goodbye

❀

I took your armour as proof

You looked forlorn without it

You looked like what this place

Had always been

(Even if they won't admit it)

❀

You were in the Winter of your life

But I am only in the Spring of mine

And when was the last time

I picked a flower and

Inhaled its happiness?

When was the last time

I stopped to dance

With the delighted

Dusk breeze?

❀

They say pick your battles

And you stayed with me while

I fought internally

Desperate to save the dying

Determined to slay demons

That were not mine to defeat

❀

You stayed by me until

I finally lay down the sword

And watched the door close tight

As I stepped through to

The other side

(Where sunlight falls like rain)

❀

Every story has a goodbye

And this is yours

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If you enjoyed this, please read more of my poetry: