Image: 'Painted Ladies' (here)
(courtesy of Bekkie's)
Note:
This famous neighborhood is known for the
'Painted Ladies', historic homes in San Francisco
painted in many bright colors. This iconic area of
the city is used in movies and TV shows - Bekkie
Blessed be a home for all the reckonings
Set in an ambiance ideally happy and gracious
Couples starting out longed in their yearnings
Nice homes with thoughts on the upsurge
Raising a family pandering to success envisaged
Not ever volatile or stormy but tacitly peaceful
Devoid of carnage or some other kinds of spillage
Heaven or hell often hard to tell but still blissful
Mindful though modern living with added pressure
Would impinge on society's thinly veiled sacrilege
Peace and quiet often neglected by those bent on leisure
A homeless' rantings reflected on the ills of the privileged
Bekkie's Saturday's Image Write #7
Brendan's at Real Toad's Weekend Mini
Challenge - homes
Mary's at PU's Poetry Pantry #345
Whata gorgeous painting you found to illustrate this poem. There is sadness in the words as some can only dream of living in such a suburb.
ReplyDeleteI like how you caught an ambience I feel about housing clusters, be they in cities or suburbs -- there's a hope and promise in them, to be safe and stable and sustaining, like a good garden: Yet in every dream home there is heartache, and sometimes violence, and greatly an avoidance of the truth that such comfort for one means something far different for those on the outside, who don't have the privilege.
ReplyDeleteYes, those beautiful painted ladies have a beautiful exterior...but what happens on the inside of them can be different from house to house. And what's happening for those on the outside, looking in, can be a stark contrast.
ReplyDeleteYou never truly know what goes on behind closed doors, and for those looking in all they can usually see is the good
ReplyDeleteYou managed to bring out the myriad nuances brilliantly
ReplyDeleteHank, perhaps some doors are deceiving as one never knows what is truly happening on the other side.
ReplyDeletePeace and quiet often neglected by those bent on leisure
ReplyDeleteA homeless' rantings reflected on the ills of the privileged
Powerfully penned, Hank!
There are places were only the few privileged are allowed to stay... sometimes we just have to remember that having walls of your own is for the few.
ReplyDeleteYour poem aptly points out that surface facade of blissful, happy family often masks turbulence beneath, and the endless pursuit of pleasure and leisure comes at high cost. Well written!
ReplyDeleteI like Brendan's comment....the gaily painted outer walls, the secrets held within..........that has fascinated me all my life. I LOVE that photo!
ReplyDeleteAh, the fakeness that can come with keeping up with Jones' - it looks good, but inside it's broke.
ReplyDeleteThe bright colors are false fronts to the worlds and lives within. I think it's wonderful that my prompt fit this prompt. You care so clever, Hank!
ReplyDelete"Blessed be a home for all the reckonings
ReplyDeleteSet in an ambiance ideally happy and gracious"
certainly this is the ideal
Luv the image
Happy Sunday
much love...
Great write. The outer and the inner, visible and invisible.
ReplyDeleteHow much of home is outer? How much inner?
Your last two lines wrapped it all up for me. Good one!
ReplyDeleteZQ
I own a home in SF. I bought it when prices were reasonable. Now, sadly, the whole city says you're right.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to read about that interesting neighborhood, Hank! Never knew it existed.
ReplyDeleteNice rhyming! (Which is not to ignore your serious message.)
ReplyDeleteI understand your points exactly when placing myself in them young couples' shoes. I could feel the dawn of a new journey as they set sail from their wedding day to the birth of their first born. beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a reminder that you never can tell from the outside what is happening on the inside....whether it be a house or a person!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like such a lovely, colorful neighborhood. Still, paint never covers truth. Enjoyed reading this Hank.
ReplyDeleteA home is much like the people who live in them - the loveliest facade is no guarantee of what lies beneath the exterior.
ReplyDeletebefore the price explosion I lived in San Francisco. those painted ladies are indeed iconic, and beyond the reach of regular people anymore ~
ReplyDeleteYes indeed. Who really knows what lies behind the closed doors of what we call home, whether bricks and mortar or those of our minds...
ReplyDeleteKind regards
Anna :o]
Behind the colors of these housings, no one knows what exactly is happening inside. And most of us, not only the homeless, at times, feel jealous about others facade. Lovely thoughts to ponder on your poem, Hank.
ReplyDeleteFrom homeless to privileged! How to break the cycle?
ReplyDelete"Heaven or hell often hard to tell but still blissful"--
(Not these "painted ladies" but the "ticky tacky" houses on the other side of the hill make me sad. In front of the ladies, the homeless stand--but are there even sidewalks in the spills of urban planned identical cages? Your poem gets me thinking.
Hank, I have a new email. Would you please e me at wildwomantwo@gmail.com ? I have a question, emailed you at the address i have for you, not sure if you got it.....thanks, kiddo.
ReplyDeleteAlbiet late i reading this was really inspiring Hank.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.