Poem

Lofty Dwelling

Nancy's Notes 🖊️♬

Written for David’s Weave Written Weakly #189
where our friend Violet has prompted us to write
about some lovely artwork from the National Gallery of
Art website. This is my pic & my response. Thanks, Violet & David!

“Pittsburgh People” (1942, Reynold Weidenaar)
© The National Gallery of Art

My house? Just keep climbing till you’re out of breath,
Then up another dozen steps that flirt with death.
The mailman quit. The milk’s delivered by a crane.
My cat fell off the porch and landed in southern Spain.

I share a wall with Mrs. Finch … well, we share the floor;
My floorboards are her ceiling, though we’re not quite sure
Whose supporting whom in this architectural jest.
We’re all just leaning on each other, hoping for the best.

When someone seven houses down decides he needs to sneeze,
The whole contraption starts to wobble in a dizzying breeze.
We’ve learned to walk on tiptoes, learned to shut doors soft,
Or else the fellow at the bottom loses his whole loft.

But oh, the view is stunning from my tilted perch!
I can see the baker, pub, the mayor, and the church
And when I drop my coffee cup (which I do a lot),
It visits every neighbor before it hits the spot.

Yes, living here is staggering, impractical, absurd,
But I’m the closest person to the birds, or so I’ve heard,
And when the whole thing topples (not an if, but a when),
I’ll surely have more flying time than the rest of them!

NAR©2025
#W3

This is “House On a Mountain” by Nikita Afonso

W3 Prompt #189: Wea’ve Written Weekly

All text and graphics are copyright for Nancy Richy and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.

43 thoughts on “Lofty Dwelling”

    1. Thank you so much, David. My biggest fear was that my poem might be misconstrued as flighty or dismissive regarding the extreme living conditions depicted in the image. I’m happy to see that my concerns were unfounded. Your comments always mean a great deal to me. Blessings on you and your family during Hanukkah and into the new year. 🕎 💜 ☮️

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  3. I love this poem, Nancy. The print is a caricature of the ‘South Side Slopes’ along the Monongahela River. I’ve climbed a series of steps there (well over 300) that took us past many such dwellings.

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    1. Thanks very much, Dan. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and providing more information regarding the “South Side Slopes”. I decided to take a lighter approach in my poem although I do realize the harsh living conditions represented in this image by Reynold Weidenaar.

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    1. thanks very much, Jim. I knew I didn’t wanna do a spooky story and I couldn’t see anything Christmasy about this image so I just thought about it. The most obvious feature is how tall and whimsical and somewhat precarious looking the houses are. I just went from there this is the result. I’m glad you enjoyed it.

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    1. My dear Ivor, isn’t it wonderful how we happen to land on the same serendipitous plane fairly often? We both chose interesting and whimsical soundtracks for my poem, and yours came about simply because you happen to be listening to Of Monsters and Men lately. I just love how that works! Thank you for your always generous and complementary comments, my friend, and for the wonderful video. I appreciate you. 🥰 🌎🎶🌏 💛

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      1. Ah, music is the universal language of the world and even though we are half a world apart our joint interests in musical sensibility certainly seem to be very similar my friend 🎶😍🌏📖

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