Second Time Buyers

Second Time Buyers

 

 

when the quizzical look

becomes a dead steady gaze

 

when a comically contorted mouth

curves into a crusted smile turned upside down

 

when you and I become "I love you's"

passing in the wind

 

in a house that once thrived

on togetherness

 

the rooms get further apart

and yes, further rather than farther

 

we are talking a degree

of lonely

 

if only

we could renew our vows

 

with a baptism

of rejuvenation

 

before our rooms are in separate

domains

 

if only love knew how to rebuild itself

we might become one big parlor

 

of socialization

with the flirting just begun

 

and we 

two people 

crossing the welcome mat together

for the first time.

 

 

 

erin-cilberto

8/3/25

Reviews

[Lorry]

I think you just hit the nail on the flat top bit with this. (I apologise for using techno speak Jacob) ... as to why I never married and the closest I ever got was living next door to Katie. But it's nor like she doesn't visit or anything like that and she indeed has a set of keys, as I do for hers, just in case I drop dead in the night and she can stop me from becoming one of those headlines "mummified remains found after bloke lies dead for 12 years without being missed" exclusives.
But your words capture perfectly the silence that almost borders on ignoring them as couples live separately together.
And yes... isn't it disconcerting when you realise those wife eyed smiling looks are now nothing more than a dead eyed stare, with their face on screensaver mode of "what on earth was I thinking." (I know you'll find this hard to believe but I've seen that look plenty!) 😃

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I have seen it too, my friend.
I am glad you have had Katie to rely on all these years...she sounds like a blessing.
j.

[DIVYA]

"If only love knew how to rebuild itself"
~ Such a wistful, beautiful line!
I relate to this poem a lot. Rooms get further apart, sometimes to the opposite sides of the house. The poet wishes the vows could be renewed. Such a romantic thought. But that ship has usually sailed. And yet, the house is still there, the rooms in it are still intact with its occupants in it. Something to be thankful for.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I think I was partly inspired by seeing the old room and bed where I slept in Vermont at the old farmhouse in the fifties...and the fact that it is still as it was...funny, where inspiration arises...
thank you, Divya.
j.

[Chris Shaw]

If only love knew how to rebuild itself

I feel sure many of your readers would fully support that line, but it takes two to tango. Both parties would have to be fully committed and that’s where the problem might lie. Some relationships are worth salvaging, others not so.

Loneliness is a killer, especially in old age. Second chances must be worth some consideration, yet some folk do very nicely on their own with their own company.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, agreed, agreed, agreed.
Thank you for your insights, Chris.
j.

[Sami Khalil]

We have a store here in Tuscaloosa called: " Twice as nice."
Nothing wrong with second chances, second time buyers of used items or relationships as long as they are in good condition.
Salvage is a big business as long as salvaging relationships from the depth of drowning.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Love this reply...metaphorical as the poem itself.
thank you, Sami,
j.

[Sami Khalil]

Wow!
You are welcome sir Jacob