Decades saved, not wasted, this house I built Devoted hands, gainful work, nights and weekends Searched longingly up and down, high streets and low Waiting for my heart to jump out, at the sight of her Saved, invested, scrimped and pawned Hoping one day, enter new dawn Window closed, garden bare, I set upon the terrace stair Knocked and waited, in the rain Admiring abalone strewn along front wall Evidence of inhabitants, though no one there Someone lived inside once, absence inlaid in rainbow pearl Me and view of quaint corner garden, sandstone steps Panorama or paranormal, needn't matter This house, I have built with hearts and hands Love inhabits and dwells always, echoes in empty rooms Filled with laughter, stories and poems My life, I have built, a shelter from storms Will water soil for one-day blooms.