The Retrofit

Contributor: Douglas Campbell

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Nondescript and aging,
my house gave shelter, nothing more.
The rain found ways inside the roof,
dripped and pooled in pots and pans.
The windows let in wasps and wind,
a cold draft carpeted my floor.
The walls and ceilings bulged and leaned,
dropping plaster, losing heat.

Beautiful and dream-ripe,
you filled my rooms with plans and heart.
With brand new tools we went to work,
laughter, lumber, caulk and dreams.
We stripped the walls to dust and bone,
tore the windows and the roof apart.
The house laid open, healed and cleansed,
we sealed the wounds, moved in again.

Luxurious, a haven now,
this house stands sanctified and new.
You've brought the colors that surround me,
the warmth that keeps my blood alive.
You're the light I do my reading by,
your voice the music in these rooms.
I'm happy here, and still surprised
at how love can retrofit old lives.


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Douglas Campbell lives in southwestern Pennsylvania. His fiction and poetry has appeared online and in print, in publications such as Literary Potpourri, Flash Me Magazine, Every Day Fiction, Slow Trains Literary Journal, and Jabberwocky. Sometimes his writing wins prizes. His flash fiction, "Accidents," for instance, won the 2007 flash fiction contest held by Many Mountains Moving magazine. He's won other honors and has more writing credits, but doesn't like to bore people to sleep by listing them. Bottom line is he can't seem to resist telling stories, and just tries to do that as best he can.