Getting Lucky​​

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Jostling against tiny shoulders

You make your way through

A moment’s pause at the threshold—

No time to spare

A hurried entrance

A foregone goodbye

What is this place?

First glance—

Eyes met with grandeur

An apparent immaculacy 

Ceilings high

Walls paneled

A grand chandelier

Over a marble floor

A helical staircase

Carved handrails

Going up 

Going down

Take your pick 

There’s some noise downstairs

A jamboree of sorts

You walk towards it

And look up

Light falling through the skylight

Equally enticing

Time is running fast

How do you choose?

Wait

See this floor first

Strange, so empty

Walking through it quietly

You see it clearer

Grandness—a wobble

Barely standing

Walls—just boards

Encasing the stone

Paint peeling off

To reveal some more

You zoom in

It’s not so bad

Behold the layers

A futile attempt

To mask the old,

The memorable

The insecure.

You try scraping it off

It only allows so much

Residue stuck in the nails—

A reminder

Of what cannot be forced.

You walk through the hallway

Wondering still

A faint uneasiness

A constant tugging

No time to spare

So much to see

This empty grandiose 

And the other unseens.

 

It’s tough outside

You just got lucky.