even at my age, 
a caravan pulled by an old dray 
through the backwoods 
if I could find any left.  

That’s the dilemma of city life, 
no greenery but in man-created parks 
or on window ledges 
decorating small apartments.  

I want a playhouse 
even at my age, 
a place to collage with leftover 
everything I cannot bear to throw away:  

love letters, dolls and stuffed animals  
saved for children who didn’t arrive, 
print photos, playbills: the Dramas!  
Farces! Musicals!  

I want a playhouse  
a live-in scrapbook of only the best times: 
travels, conversations and laughter 
over a delicious and bountiful dinner   

with strangers and friends, poetry still alive  
in my heart memory; a place to share a wee  
drop of whiskey then bid guests adieu  
so I can dream, even at my age. 

Diana Rosen is an essayist, flash writer, and poet with credits in Rattle, As It Ought to be Magazine, Tiferet Journal and others in the U.S., Australia, Canada, India, and the U.K. To read more of her work, please visit www.authory.com/dianarosen Her first full-length book of poetry and flash, "High Stakes & Expectations" was released in spring 2022 from www.thetinypublisher.com