As I was entering Estancia from the west, I saw this majestic abandoned house. It must have been very elegant and the toast of the town back in the day. The family that lived there must have been large and well off to live in such a house. Even in its abandoned state, it commands an imposing presence on the prairie of eastern New Mexico.
The house was built from a kit purchased from Sears, Roebuck and Company in the early 20th century.
Reflections of a Poet
Upon Seeing a Photograph Entitled ‘Estancia – Empty Nest’
Upon Seeing a Photograph Entitled “Estancia – Empty Nest” by David Douglas
(for David and Karen)
We expect to see no face peering out
of the window.
Those eyes of glass
have grown dim long ago.
The emptiness is palpable.
And the trees that flank the house,
have they seen their last bloom?
Will they ever again bring color and life
to this landscape?
The moment of recognition comes quickly,
for it is as if the emptiness itself cries out
into the gathering storm
that hovers over the landscape
like a great warning.
But we feel strangely content
that soon the emptiness will be
briefly filled with the present swirl
of chaos.
And we recall that ancient
Hebrew writings recount how
order was brought out of chaos
“in the beginning”!
All things here have had their better day.
Still in this study of shadows and light,
black and gray,
we glimpse
the exquisite beauty
of decay –
“Upon Seeing a Photograph Entitled ‘Estancia – Empty Nest’ by David Douglas”, Copyright© 2018 by John D. Call