Two Weeks Tops! by Jerri Palechka

I have quite a story I'd like to share with you
About a life of misery, every bit of it is true!
So take my word, as I will tell
What it's like to live in contractor HELL.
This is a horrible place no one should be
And I hope what I tell you will soon set you free.
They will take your home you would like to fix
But check up their sleeves, they are full of tricks!
The wallpaper was hung upside down and slanting,
A crazy sight that brought me close to ranting.
The front door fell as I entered one day
The contractor watched but had nothing to say.
He stood with his mouth opened just a bit
While he pondered the problem, he thought he should sit.
The walls were bare of any drywall, you see,
I would have been happier if I lived in a tree.
We walked on nails, dust, and grime
We pleaded with the contractor, will it be done on time?
He said with a smirk, with a mean glint in his eye
Two weeks, tops, you know I'd never lie!
The door to the refrigerator couldn't open all the way
When I told the contractor he said, "What's that you say?"
After they put in a kitchen floor made of wood
They realized the stove was where the door should have stood.
They piled up boxes on the same floor so new
That has staples galore, that made a scratch or two!
All the doors were cut on the bottom with a slant
I screamed through the house, I can't live here, I can't!
The rooms were painted the wrong color and flat
The doors weren't sanded, the toilets rocked when we sat!
The kitchen window was a treasure for sure to behold
It was higher on one side and the sill grew black mold.
We wish we had done all the work on our own
Maybe by now we'd still be living at home.
Two weeks, tops turned into a long, long time
So I finally said, " This house is yours and not mine"!

Ugly Furniture by Jerri Palechka

Have you ever had that piece of furniture, that one couch or chair,
Where you would do anything in your power if it just wasn't there?
It seems to stand out in the center of your room
You feel it wants to only bring you misery, pain and gloom?
You sit in it resenting the ugly stains and tears
The sagging cushions, the worn out threads, the weariness it bears.
You fear you'll be lost forever in its ever-sinking cushion,
Your knees locked together, your arms weak from pushin'.
You finally get so tired of trying to get out,
When you begin to catch your breath, for help you will shout!
So while you wait something strange seems to come over you,
The couch begins to change and you're feeling not so blue.
As you stare at the spots that always annoyed you so,
You remember when the couch was new a long time ago.
And the memory of how those stains became, and the tears broke apart,
Was when you had young children around and love was in your heart.
The sagging cushion, so lumpy and gross, had once held tiny feet
That loved to jump and laugh for hours upon this once plump seat.
The longer you sit on this furniture, this piece of disrepair,
The memories come flooding back till its no longer a chair.
It now has become an irreplaceable treasure, you cannot part with it.
Its price is beyond what most men can pay, a king on it should sit.
Every tear, and spot, every lump and thread bare,
Is a constant reminder when all your children were there.
For children grow up and go off on their own.
They've learned many lessons and in wisdom they've grown.
Now all you have left is the chair in which you sit
And the wonderful memories in your heart that won't quit.

Let Me Grieve by Jerri Palechka

Let me grieve my friend, don't tell me not to cry
I have to try to understand, I can't help but ask "why"
You tell me you know that he was just a pet
And that it shouldn't matter as much, just forget.
But I can't do that and I know I never will
A part of me left when his heart went so still.
I know I can't bring him back, and my tears do not lie
And dogs like him should live forever, so why do they die?
Don't tell me he was just a dog and I could get another
For friends aren't replaceable, I feel I may smother.
Don't look at me amused a bit by the pain that I endure
For I would bare the pain all over again to have a friend so pure.
For the one who really loses here are you and not I
And even though my heart has broken and I still want to cry
I have the sweet, sweet memories of a love so freely given
That all in all I know I'll go on, to remember him I'm driven.
Don't laugh at me, don't scold or complain
I'd do it all over again and endure all the pain.
I'll honor him to my dying day, though long the days seem to be
And to rememer his love, sweetly given, will set my soul free.

Friend For Life by Jerri Palechka

I felt his soft,warm fuzzy head

A bow around his neck, gigantic and red

A shopping bag he was presented in

My heart and my soul he knew he would win.

The first years were happy, we knew not what was to come

What the years would bring to us, only where we'd come from.

But nothing else mattered as our friendship grew and grew

Time meant nothing, many trials we'd been through.

He was smart and affectionate, always good for a lick

He understood every word we said, his responses were quick

So much joy he gave to us with his very special talent

He could sing like an opera star, we thought he was gallant.

We thought that this dog we learned to love so much

Could never have an ending, death could not touch

But that isn't the way life works we know now

And at his passing to our knees we did bow.

And the time that we had together gave us riches indeed

But for all the years to come our hearts will still bleed

For there is nothing so precious as the unconditional love

From a dog, your friend and buddy, that was sent from above.