House of Scrooge

Posted on by Reena Saxena

House of Love
care its currency
Hospitality
its hallmark

one day
a beggar
spreads deceptive palms
we never refused
so borrowed to help
fell victim to usury
got driven to penury

the rascal lives there
we were thrown
-inevitable heartbreak
changed our path
to a once-warm home
groaning under
multiple stakes

You have a right
to demean or despise
but I’ll not let
a beggar in disguise
deflate, downsize
or capitalize
on generosity

I’m happy being mean
my shriveled heart
quivers
in fear of betrayal
being taken for a ride
no one cried
no one died
but my soul dried

Moonwashed Weekly Prompt – Hospitality

dVerse – What were you like before

30 thoughts on “House of Scrooge”

  1. Pingback: The Limelighters – Hospitality Prompt Wrap-up – Moonwashed Musings

  2. Now this explains everything. ‘… but my soul dried’ . Excellent take, Reena. Our media always searches the root cause behind every terrorist. Like ‘ He was wrongly punished by a teacher, or, he was so poor…’The list is very long.

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  8. I love what you did here Reena, a great prequel and a perfect set-up for how his story ends. The character and everything reminded me of my parents, too. My dad would always be a victim to these types of scams, sometimes multiple times a victim of the same scam, even when my mother would protest and try to explain. His answer that put it all to rest was that he can live with the beggar and the scammer lying, but he cannot live with not believing and offering help to stories of turmoil. In a way, your poem reminds me that his soul, although not flawless, had this as an immunity from becoming the shriveled soul of Scrooge.

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