Today, I offer a free verse poem about progress. Our town has been one of the fastest growing communities in Wisconsin for many years now. Progress, they say. I say otherwise. Today, I lament the destruction of three houses that sat on a hill for as long as I’ve lived here – 19 years. They were there before we came. How long they were there? I am unsure. But, a long time. Today, they were destroyed to make way for progress.
There Once was a House or Three
At a busy intersection,
perhaps unsafe four way stop,
there once sat a house.
It stood there,
upon a hill, like a sentry.
It stood there watching,
until today.
Behind it were two more houses.
Not on guard duty but lining the street
with variety and grace.
Our town is growing,
or so they say.
Development is good,
or so they say.
Stores, banks, cars, traffic,
and people all growing
exponentially to fill our needs
and our streets.
Gone are open spaces, fields,
green grass, lawns, flowers, &
the smell of clover in the damp night air.
Given way to concrete, parking lots,
store fronts, and traffic.
There once were three houses.
One stood sentry on a busy street corner
of our town.
Perhaps, guarding against the progress,
the development, the increasing population,
and the satiety of human need and greed.
There once were three houses.
Today, they are gone.
The Apples in My Orchard 
I had a strong vision of the house as the steadfast soldier-guarding-but no more? I like how the verses built to a not so happy ending. I feel badly for this progress. A similar thing is happening with one of the beautiful golf courses near us. It was sold to make way for a Meijer and Menards. By the way-already a Lowes and Walmart across the street? Did we really need this?
I don’t understand sometimes…
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Thanks so much for your comments. I was not sure I conveyed what I had meant to but your comments reassured me that I had done alright. I don’t understand sometimes, either. We had a new grocery store built by the same company that owned the last one – the one that now stands empty. Althought the “new” is supposed to be bigger and better, I am still (six months later) finding it hard to believe that is the case. Thanks, again, for stopping by.
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Ah, yes, progress. It comes at such a high price, doesn’t it? We are experiencing a lot of growth where I live, and I am starting to feel a little closed in as a result. I like the image you created with the line about the house “perhaps guarding against the progress.”
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Thank you for your comments.
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