The front stair's refurbished
With the newest in cheap purple carpet
To clash
With a hundred year old wooden banisters
And a fresh coat of white paint
over new drywall.
The rear stair is crumbling
And the fifth step down is missing half its overhang
The wooden support poking up
threatening
to throw you down to the ground.
The front stair's warmer
The rear next to frozen.
The front door is locked
The rear wide open.
The front stair's refurbished with the new purple carpet
The rear stair is crumbling with the missing step.
Yet in both the cracks can show
Of a century of wear
Of flood-damaged foundations
And minimum cost repairs.
The front stair's refurbished,
but the spackle lasted a day,
until someone tripped into it
and the crack came back again.