The Antique Shop

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    The Antique Shop

    The Antique Shop

    The small antique shop beckons to me as if calling my name.
    I hurry to enter with great anticipation.
    The chime above the door provides an eerie greeting.
    The store is aglow with articles of times past.
    I pass from aisle to aisle my eyes darting from relic to relic.
    I see high top shoes with white laces.
    I see brushes and combs with pearl handles.
    I see pictures, in boxes, of families in fine clothes.
    I see a doll in the corner eyes staring blankly ahead.
    I see worn dresses on racks with lace collars and bows.

    My journey through time continues as I move on in haste.
    I see a stringless violin in a black scuffed up case.
    I see silverware with fine bone handles.
    I see pocket watches with long golden chains.
    I see hundreds of tiny bottles that once held fine fragrances.
    I see scratched phonograph records strewn hither and yon.
    I see fine tools of the trade in hand crafted cases.
    I see rows of fine china all hand painted with care.
    I see a faded picture of a child with long golden hair.

    Suddenly I pause as my mind starts to reflect.
    Everything before me shelters a story of long ago.
    They are not useless items that I view but the relics of lives past.
    Each article once the personal possession of a living breathing soul.
    With a new respect for the articles before me I move on.
    Ghostly images of faces now accompany each piece that I see.
    If I purchase just one it must be displayed with the utmost dignity.
    For its original owner will have bestowed its care to me.
    I leave the shop with my new treasure all neatly wrapped.
    The chime above the door signals my departure.
    The stale aroma of the shop is replaced by the cool evening air.
    Life, as fragile as the tiny piece of crystal that I carry, goes on.

    Copyright 2007 Charlie Gragg

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    SavVySam commented on The Antique Shop

    08-20-2010

    This is a well guided tour through the delicately woven passage of time! A gem revealed in this write...Wonderful work!

    Hampton

    08/21/2010

    Thank you very much.

    BadBadBear commented on The Antique Shop

    12-30-2009

    Now surely everyone has heard of a bull in a china shop. Here's a bear in an antique shop, and what a quaint antique shop it is. For those who have never been inside one of these treasure shops, your master pen takes them there in living color. Great!

    Hampton

    12/30/2009

    Many thanks Mr. Bear

    LenaMP commented on The Antique Shop

    12-20-2009

    Nicely written. After spending many an hour in antique stores myself you have captured the essence and excitement of looking and finding that one special treasure. I love the old daguerrotypes that have photos of times and people past. Thanks for the memories!

    gogant commented on The Antique Shop

    12-06-2009

    Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to hold an old relic in one's hand and walk with the one who first treasured it when it was new.............you help in a way with this poem, Hammpy.............g

    Hampton

    12/06/2009

    Thank you. That's a very nice thing to say.

    blackfootlady commented on The Antique Shop

    12-06-2009

    Now I wish I could write like that!!That is such a neat write,I ty.

    Hampton

    12/06/2009

    Thank you for your comments, I truly appreciate it.

    Poetry comes nearer to vital truth than history.

    Plato (BC 427-BC 347) Greek philosopher.

    Hampton’s Poems (111)

    Title Comments
    Title Comments
    Searching 5
    The Poetess 14
    Nonsense 12
    Solitude 18
    Lame Limericks 14
    Message to Papa 15
    Young Jimmy O’Fallon 11
    The Computer From Hell 18
    Life Ain’t for Sissies 16
    The Mind In Motion 13
    The Game of Poetry 9
    Silence 55
    WordSlinger 19
    Holiday Thoughts 12
    Sweet Mary 18
    From White to Grey to Black 19
    The Reckoning 12
    And All of That Jazz 16
    Today 25
    No Offense, Just My Opinion 16
    Lucky 10
    You’re Only as Old as You Feel 13
    Saturday Night 13
    Political Change? 14
    The Female Gender 17
    I’m In Charge Here, Aren’t I? ( With Epilogue) 10
    I’m In Charge Here, Aren’t I? 7
    Remembering 11
    This Web We Weave 13
    The End 16
    The Day the Clouds Cried 16
    The Path of Life 12
    My Mother Ruth 12
    Forever–ast
    er
    11
    Humanities Challenge 14
    A Cowboy's Perspective 12
    July in Buda Texas 14
    The OP Poets Parade 20
    The Chatelaine 12
    Shot Through the Heart 17
    Poetry and Fine Wine 18
    The Man What Am 10
    The Final Beat of My Heart 16
    The Rainbow of Poets 19
    A Cowboy's Lament 13
    Of This World I am Not 17
    The Wee People 19
    An Evening at an Irish Pub 15
    The Scent of Love 14
    Fresh News from Buda Texas 16
    Memories of Times Past 13
    The Dance of the Poets 20
    The Confession 14
    Road to Obscurity 18
    Barbara 14
    Shadows 15
    Prescience 17
    Words That Bind 54
    Wondering 26
    New Year News from Buda Texas 13
    We Are All Witnesses 16
    Christmas 25
    A Cowboy’s Prayer 29
    The 9 ers 24
    Love Defined 27
    Tis a Time to Give Thanks 21
    More News From Buda Texas 26
    Choices 26
    News from Buda, Texas 21
    In Search of God 21
    Writers of Poems (WOPs) 26
    Out of the Darkness 15
    Visions from Within the Mist 18
    Baseball 12
    The Night Stalker 16
    The Man I Presume to be Buck 16
    The Sounds of Time 17
    The Little Man in the Green Hat 18
    Blah Blah Blah 14
    One Two Three 13
    Carpe Viam 11
    Love in the Afternoon 13
    The Moth 14
    Lost & Dungeons of the Mind 11
    The Creative Process 19
    The Truth and the Tribe 19
    The Long Wait. 19
    Feathers 26
    The Arrow 14
    Take Two Cialis and Call Me in the Morning 26
    Ghostly Images 16
    Friends 11
    Angels Without Wings 20
    IN MY OWN WORDS 13
    The Rider 16
    Pride and Shame 18
    The Winning Poet is.... 21
    Memories 13
    Politicians 67
    Your Mailbox Is Empty 18
    God's Visit 17
    Poets and Poems 20
    Love Thy Neighbor 13
    Renewal 8
    The Roar of Silence 17
    Blessed Are These Days 4
    Time and Space 5
    Life's Journey 8
    Gift To The Fallen 16
    Hunger 21
    The Antique Shop 30