Washington House

 

Washington House

let this house explain the muddled    painful parts
the evergreen bushes out front provide
backdrop for numerous Easter pictures
and later prom photos    eventually a wedding

one bathroom    five children    one    sometimes
two grown-ups in the background
the Vietnam War plays out on a black
and white television screen

we copied the protest marches walking around
the block fists raised singing
power to the people
us    being under the age of ten
not really knowing who the people were 

the worst of the damage was left behind
in Indiana when we moved    neglect along
with physical and emotional abuse stepped
in and behind that white front door 

and the bay window    Hansel and Gretel
played out in the rooms of the blue house
bedrooms were refuge and the back
yard a place of magic    an escape for the cruelty 

existing inside the WWII cape cod
built to house the workers pouring into
the shipyards doing their part for freedom
and the American Way of life.

Author: Joan Hagy

Photo: Scott Webb on Unsplash