The House on the Hill

Posted byChristine BoltonPosted inBlog, HistoryTags:, , , ,

The House on the Hill

The old house on the hill
was a magical place to a young child
Conjuring visions of grandeur
from a time gone by
Imagining winding staircases
and huge chandeliers
Surely an attic filled with treasures
An old rocking horse, beloved train set
and dusty photographs
How I wished to explore
the expansive home
but it was not meant to be
and remained an enigma

The iron railing fence and huge gate
always locked and foreboding
Mounds of leaves from ancient trees
picked up by chilly winds
Only on rare occasions did we see her,
the old lady who lived there
Glimpses through the window of a face
with grey hair pulled tight in a bun
How we would giggle and make up stories
of her being a witch who would snatch 
up small children and eat them for supper
All so long ago but those memories still fresh
as I picked up the Sold sign and turned the key 


Copyright © 2021 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing
All Rights Reserved

Photo by Nathan Walker on Unsplash

Laura is hosting D'Verse Poets tonight and has prompted us as follows

For this Poetics Prompt I want us to be voyeurs, peeping through windows and doors of a house One that has no family connections, no memories of our own to call upon .

  • conjure an imaginary house of any size, any place, any age
  • fill it with an imaginary person/people past or present, or ghosts,  or leave it empty with its history
  • make it literal but move into the metaphorical if you wish

Published by Christine Bolton

I have been writing poetry since I was a child and it has helped in the good times and bad times. I am always looking within to find the answers to life's problems and to write thought-provoking poetry and prose. Thanks for checking it out. Christine

24 thoughts on “The House on the Hill”

    1. No! In my mind she was long gone and my character just wanted that house ☺️ Thanks Sadje 💕🌺

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  3. So nicely done Christine! I love how the imagination of children conjures up all sorts of crazy things… The twist of the lock at the end is perfect~

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    1. Thanks Dwight. Yes, we were all so full of wonder at that age. Everything was magical the. ☺️🌺

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    1. Thanks Lynn. We had one kinda like it, maybe n to as grand. But we did used to say an old lady was a witch and ate children. I feel really bad about that to this day. 😢 What do we know when we’re kids?

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  6. I absolutely adore this, Christine! Such vivid, evocative, and funny imagery (really loved the witch eating children one–it shows the creativity of children and where our minds will go at that age).

    “and dusty photographs
    How I wished to explore
    the expansive home
    but it was not meant to be
    and remained an enigma”

    I feel this so much. God, this makes me think back to my last piano teacher’s house. There was a small mystery to it that eluded me, maybe it was the neighborhood or the way her house was, but something was mystifying about it. She was a very nice lady, but there was something off with it and even herself a little. I don’t know, but I guess houses have that power to create such character in people that it either reflects them or doesn’t. Very well penned, always enjoy reading you. ❤

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    1. Thank you Lucy ☺️❤️ Yes I think we can all relate to this. I remember an old neighbor who lived upstairs to us. To me as a 5 year old, she was ancient and she had a hump on her back. She was always going on about her roses. Looking back she couldn’t have been that old but everyone is scary when you’re little 🤣

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  9. This poem has everything 😍 I love how seamlessly you incorporate the image of ” an attic filled with treasures/An old rocking horse, beloved train set and dusty photographs,”.. and finish with the twist at the end .. beautiful, beautiful work done! 💝💝

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    1. Thank you Helen. I’m happy you liked some childhood memories, even though I didn’t buy that house ☺️💕

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