Course:LLED368 - muffled floor.

“My Childhood Home”

The kitchen floor was muffled

it could not speak to all it had seen

From the laughter, the tears

the juice spills or batter messes.

The dog loved it

waiting for scraps of dinner,

unwanted and dangling from the hands of children:

“Don’t waste food, there are people who don’t have it.”

But now there is no sound

the dog has died and the children have left

Only the stains remain

from running inside with muddy shoes.

I hear the builder yell something

muffled by the sounds of street cars passing

A moment’s silence

Before the walls come crashing.

- Rita Shahi