The Old Brown Chair

The old brown chair that sat there long ago
saw the whole family life utterly in despair.
Poor, sickly, and saintly
and drunken nights that lasted hours and hours till
the mind would numb from it all.

The old brown chair was in there all along--
it saw the kids from birth to older ages--
could we call them grown?
as their pain and fear and needs were left unknown,
from wasted hours of endless days and empty bellies;
saddened hearts would cry to see them sitting on that chair
going nowhere but deeper into poverty...despair.

image by Tama 66 on pixabay

The old brown chair was torn and oft mended,
saw all the furniture getting old and replaced with used,
as it sat bruised and worn; it cradled the old man drinking
towards his death; he even gave his last breath
on the old brown chair that sat there long ago.

Rearrange and change yet something looks strange 
the grown kids would say;
yet no one wanted to admit
what was really in their way.

Change and rearrange some more they had tried.
And finally the lie they denied for so very long:
It was time to say goodbye to the old brown chair
that sat there, so long.