This poem can be found at:
Bubba's Place
Ode To A Wrecking Ball
Some people decry letting old places die.
Cringing at the thought when bulldozers are brought
to knock down the walls of decrepit dance halls.
With their voices raised and eyes wet and glazed
they bemoan this ‘great loss’ like it’s Jesus on the cross.
They simply cannot see that all stories are History.
Sentiment for old shelves is us trying to save ourselves
trying not to be forgotten when our children plant new cotton.
New buildings and new dreams replace those old, dry-rotted beams.
These vast empty shells where dust and ghosts dwell
do no good for the living and that’s their misgiving.
Heart-felt, emotional pleas against hard financial realities.
Stuck in once-upon-a-time, aging starlet past her prime
once glorious and new, now forgotten like an old shoe.
Better to remember May and forget November.
Turn-of-the-century wonder will soon be torn asunder
as its Art Deco charm falls without much alarm.
Architecture is divine when the taxes are not mine.
Buildings aren’t meant for the dead, but for those left in their stead
to use as long as they’re needed, ‘til the usefulness is exceeded.
Then best that they be replaced than just left there to go to waste.
~ Eric Adler
Such an honor! Wow!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Pamela!
And thanks, Poets United!
Cool poem - good bye sweet dance hall.
ReplyDeleteInteresting thoughts. Thanks
ReplyDeletebrilliant -- although i'm prone to nostalgia and would probably be one of thee people weeping...lol
ReplyDeletecheers eric!!
Great work, great poem Eric
ReplyDeleteCongrats again!!!
:) :)
Thanks, everybody!
ReplyDeleteActually, I like old buildings and interesting architecture... I'm often torn between that and my persistent pragmaticism.
I agree with Eric. Old buildings aren't of much use to people. They are just pillars of the past that have to fall some or the other day. There isn't much point in preserving them; cultures change with time, values don't.
ReplyDeleteBut our ancestors taught us how to build, so, maybe preserving architecture is a token of gratitude.
And I think - almost missed this time to celebrate a fine writing, and your selection as Poet of the Week. Congratulations.
ReplyDeletePreserving buildings, architecture, is a token of gratitude, but usually the workmanship and materials are beautiful and deserving of preservation.
ReplyDeleteWe live in a use/discard society, so why not retrofit old buildings for modern purposes?
I was raised in a pre-Revolutionary War house, in the countryside of New Jersey. The architecture was not only beautiful, but a testament to the creativity of the original builders. The usage of local materials, including black walnut, and the construction details like the layered walls...plaster/mud and straw, brick and then sheeted with clapboard or shingles....made a very good insulation. Post and beam construction shot through with huge pegs, plus a slate roof, held this house together for over 225 years.
We should honor old buildings. They had a purpose then, and they can have a purpose now.
Lady Nyo
Congrats! Great Selection!
ReplyDeleteRemember me when you become famous, will ya, Eric? :) Congrats on your poem of the week!
ReplyDelete