by Joseph Kleponis
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| Claytoonz by Clay Jones |
Our house is set on a foundation
Hundreds of years old. The men who set it,
The foundation and the building, too, were wise.
They saw what had and had not worked elsewhere,
And so, they reinforced the foundation
With a seemingly simple substructure
Of beams that balanced and braced itself
To support the elegant edifice
They had dared to frame. It has weathered storms,
Abuses from within and from without,
But now the climate has begun to change,
We have noticed threats where there had been none—
A minor infestation in the basement—
Will the structure hold, or need amendment?
Hundreds of years old. The men who set it,
The foundation and the building, too, were wise.
They saw what had and had not worked elsewhere,
And so, they reinforced the foundation
With a seemingly simple substructure
Of beams that balanced and braced itself
To support the elegant edifice
They had dared to frame. It has weathered storms,
Abuses from within and from without,
But now the climate has begun to change,
We have noticed threats where there had been none—
A minor infestation in the basement—
Will the structure hold, or need amendment?
Joseph Kleponis lives north of Boston, Massachusetts. He’s had poems published in online and print journals nationally and internationally. His book Truth’s Truth was published by Kelsay Books in 2021.
