For Charity

This book, forlorn, dog eared and worn

Bright cover now a weathered skin of dusty grey

A thing once loved

Now long since shoved aside, a neglected relic

Old and in the way

The faded photographs, yellowed paragraphs

Clipped from pages of ancient history

A lifetime’s treasures, the trials and pleasures

We sift and plunder, leave the rest for charity

Now empty shelves

Stand by themselves, slouched against naked walls on carpets drab and bare

Everything’s so still

No life to fill the room, its echo stifled by the stagnant air

Now everything’s in tatters

I’ll try and keep what matters with me