“The Whitehouse Diner” Photo by Aaron Segreaves
Haunted Diner
I can still hear them,
their laughter, the plates and glasses clinking.
I can still hear them,
when youth’s engine blushed our cheeks. Spied then
I, two entwined through the glass, heart sinking.
Flames grew tall; I torched them all without thinking.
I can still hear them.
Cell, a blackened box
where a deluge of regret has been weeped.
Cell, my blackened box
hell containing sanity’s unhinged locks.
Their screams yet assail me awake, asleep;
corpses now dance with my madness in glee.
Soul, my blackened box.
Today’s offering is in rondelet form.
Carrie is the host of The Sunday Muse.
Tao Talk 
The mind and the soul converge with the ghosts of the past. This is captivating Lisa!
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Thank you, Carrie!
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Intense negative memories can be unbearable
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Yes they can, especially when you know you’ve done so much wrong.
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The voices of the past linger. Be wary in the dead of night!
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Exactly!
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Oh wow, a firebug’s tale! THAT was unexpected! (and I love unexpected!)
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Glad you enjoyed it, Shay. Thanks!
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Delightful. Will have to try a rondelet soon.
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Thank you. It’s my first one and I like the rhythm of it.
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😊
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Very dark and yet so moving Li. Excellent
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Thank you, Sadje. This person is damned!
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You’re welcome! I can see why
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That’s a dark tale. (K)
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Yes. I hope the next life is better for them…
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“Flames grew tall” – oh man!
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Love the dark past coming to life in this once alive diner.
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Good way of putting it, Max.
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Dark indeed! You created such a chilled atmosphere with your poem, Lisa 🙂
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Sunita, glad it had the desired effect, thank you 🙂
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Wow – intensely dark, Lisa… and I love this form too!
❤
David
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❤ Thanks!
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Your version of that haunted diner feels incredibly real ~~ kudos, Lisa!
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Helen, thank you ❤
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Wow, what a dark and disturbing tale Lisa!
‘when youth’s engine blushed our cheeks’ – love this line.
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Thanks much, Marion!
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That’s a pretty dark and scary poem, Lisa! And how about that amazing photo?
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Christian, we are given the photo to write to. I couldn’t see a light anywhere in it. Add on how it snowed all day yesterday you’ve got a recipe for dark 🙂
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To be clear, I actually like your poem. And, yes, what an incredibly powerful and dark photo. It’s no surprise it didn’t inspire a love story. 🙂
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Thank you, Christian. I know there are people who are tormented by their past acts but there is nothing to be done but try to move on — even if you’re trapped in a cell with nothing but time on your hands.
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Man, I just realized that abandoned diner is in New Jersey and actually not that far from my house. I know Route 22 but don’t recall having seen that diner. Since it appears the photo was taken nine years ago, I imagine it may no longer be there.
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Christian if you’re going to check it out to see if it’s still there, please do it in daylight. There is evil afoot in that place, guaranteed!
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Ha, it certainly does look scary! Pretty creepy, actually!
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wow darkly powerful Lisa!🙏🤗
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Cindy, thank you very much!
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You’re most welcome!! 💖
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“where a deluge of regret has been weeped.”
wow!
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Syl, thank you.
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There is no worse hell than being unable to rid one of one’s bad memories. Well done!
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Dale so true 😦 Thank you, my friend.
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🙂
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Regret can be overwhelming. Haunting words, like the photo. I never knew as a kid (of course) that I would taste regret as an adult and it would be so bitter…….
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Stacey each thing from before the now feels like a worry stone in my pocket. No, I didn’t either 😦 They are always with me. The small consolation I find is that I’m not the same person I was then and was doing the best I could for each of those moments. At the same time when I do things in the present that I know I will regret, those stones have greater density as I should, and do, know better.
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“Greater density.” That’s perfect, and really true. Yeah, if I (we) didn’t know any better than, say, 20, 30 years ago….hoo, boy. That’d be kinda tragic.
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Exquisitely eerie, Lisa!
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Thanks much, Sara!
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I feel like I want to hide
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I understand. Someplace far from there!
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