Monday, December 10, 2012

The old and the new

Tomorrow the appliances arrive.  The next step.  The painting is now complete.  The new puts the old into sharp relief.  The old has served us well.  We have had our current refrigerator for fifteen years.  It was here when we bought the house.  To be sure... its water stopped running, and we couldn*t replace the light in the refrigeration compartment.  But it continues to do its job, even in the dark.


The fresh paint smell
Permeates the house.
Of course now we notice
The fifteen years of paint
Declaring its age
On the other walls.
This is how it always is
When new
Confronts the old.
We stand back,
Let each declare
Its superiority.
Tomorrow 
The new refrigerator will arrive
While the old one looks on
From the living room,
Jealous of the stainless sleekness
The light that actually works
The water that cubes and shaves and flows
The efficiency rating:
A nine out of ten
Of available refrigerators.
The old one
Has served us
An amazing fifteen years.
We purchased the warranty
On the new one.
We have been warned.
Oh yes
We have been warned.

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