Poem: "Restoring Them to Their Former Glory"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem is spillover from the May 5, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by janetmiles. It also fills the "Building" square in my 5-1-26 card for the Greek Myth Fest. This poem belongs to the series Monster House.


"Restoring Them to Their Former Glory"


My girl would pick up just about
anything old and broken,
whether we needed it or not.

She carried the junk downstairs
to the troll who lived in the basement.

"Why do you do that?" I asked her.

"He specializes in fixing things up and
restoring them to their former glory,
she said. "Sometimes even things
that never really had a former glory."

I thought about that. "Yeah,
planned obsolescence is stupid."

So I took a box and cleaned up
my room a bit, collecting things
that I'd meant to fix or replace
but hadn't gotten around to yet,
and bits and pieces of parts from
things I'd lost the main body of.

Then I carried the box down
to the basement and set it
on the workbench there.

"Happy mending," I said.

"Thanks, bub," the troll grunted
as he pulled the box toward him.

It would be interesting to see
what he could do with my junk.

Maybe he'd starting building
something new with it.

* * *

Notes:

"And I specialize in fixing things up and restoring them to their former glory. She wondered if that talent extended to humans, maybe even humans who never really had a former glory."
-- Jill Shalvis

The troll in the basement first appeared in "Home Shriek Home."

Comments

[janetmiles]

Yay for the troll, and for all the other monsters!

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm glad you liked this. Monsters are fun.

[alatefeline]

<3 <3 <3