the chair by the window

there

is the paring down of things,

the purging

stage

of life, downsizing,

moving

reluctantly into a smaller

home,

a senior place

where little needs tending to.

a time

where everything

accumulated must be given

a grade

of keeping or tossing out.

what was valuable

once,

is now set out on the curb,

or sold

for a dollar.

how much you loved that painting

with fading colors,

that cracked

vase on the mantle,

that chair you sat in for

half your life.