THE OLD HOTEL
It was past midnight, the guests were asleep,
Silently they moved, the fridge door gave a squeak.
Silently they hungered, in both pleasure and pain
Eyes looked longingly, hands reached out in vain.
Thoughts turned to times when food was real
A taste in your mouth that you could feel.
The old hotel was quiet but all the walls knew
All of the guests and who passed through.
Names in reception, brollies in the hall
Just one member of staff on call.
Cheese in the fridge, mature not old
Tea leaves in the pot, the future foretold.
Who was it who opened the fridge door at night
Who was it who hungered with eyes alight.
Milk in the fridge fresh from the store
Bacon and hams and pastries and more.
These midnight walkers could not touch
Sad at heart they knew too much.
The old hotel settled down for the night
Reliving the cries, the suffering and plight.
The fridge door closed, they shuffled away
Back to darkness on another new day.
The hotel guests had started to wake
To a hotel breakfast fit to partake.
Silently they drifted into the night
As the old hotel turned its face to the light.
The day was beginning the hotel relaxed
Tonight again it would remember its past.
Guests on the staircase, taxi to the station
The hotel looked splendid with its fresh decoration
No longer the workhouse where lost souls cried
No permanent residents who starved and died.
Carol Starkey
Many thanks Carol- certainly kept me in suspense……