Gimcrack, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @brianrrs37 on Twitter)

So pristine, this pyrite
Deceptively enticing
Aesthetically pleasing
Everyone is leaving

A new coat over
Over that dry rot
Over the termites
Over the faded wallpaper

The diamond is not
What you thought
What you bought
What you sought

It is the rust
The rain
The pain
You want to hide

Smiles behind
No one can see
Inside thee
Leave me be

I am as happy
As I can be
Cant you see
Cant you see?

Insubstantial
Rickety, consequently
Discarded, forgotten
Look at me, look at me

The claw trap
Has ensnared me
I cannot leave
Cannot leave

I bleed, I bleed
It cuts me, cuts me
The belt sander
Has exposed me

Sawdust and mold
You’ve uncovered
I cannot be repaired
Paint fumes fill the air

Beware, beware
I am never there. I am
The house. My own ghost
With no substance

To scare, to scare
To breath, I fear
To stay or go
I do not dare

The shutters dangle
On rusty hinges
The doors creak
The roof leaks

What of me, of me?