The House With Blue Shutters

I stayed in the bedroom, one at the top of the stairs
It was my uncles when he was young and had few cares
He's in the army now serving far away from his home
His mom and dad, my grandparents, live here alone
　
I'm now in his bedroom spending time by myself
Either looking at the big ticking clock on the shelf
Or staring out my window at the house across the way
The one with blue shutters and no children there to play
　
Grandma and grandpa don't have any yard swings
They don't have any pets, don't even have toys
I brought my doll, my jacks and a few other things
On this street live old folks, no little girls and boys
　
Is it my imagination because of something I want there to be
Because it looks like a young person is looking back at me
Then I see her smile, she moves and her eyelashes flutter
At last I have a playmate in the house with the blue shutters

 Author Eileen Clark

This poem comes from my childhood and I did stay often at my grandparents house while my brothers were in school. Unlike today where grandparents have a bedroom set aside for their grandchildren filled with toys, video games, TV’s and computers. My grandparents saved the Sunday funny papers for us. My grandpa had a couple of puzzles up on the closet shelf that he brought down when I came for a weekend and he always bought me Neapolitan ice cream. I brought my doll, jump rope, and a coloring book with my box of crayons. There was a white house next to my grandparents house and it did have blue shutters. I did sit on the edge of my uncles bed looking out the bedroom window and wishing there were kids living in that house. The part I made up was that their actually was a child in that house, there wasn’t but how I so wished there was. My grandparents did live in a neighborhood with very fine houses and older well established people residing in them, there were no children living on that block or any streets near by.

Image:housewithblueshutters.com

About the artist ~*~ Suzie