It’s pre-war?
Asked the prospect.
Oh, yes, intoned the agent,
As if reciting reverentially
From an ancient real estate text.
They don’t make them like this any more…
Walls of plaster and lath.
Lath…what’s lath?
Asked the prospect.
You know, wooden slats slathered in plaster,
Strong as Versailles.
My, my, said the prospect,
How old is this house?
What war is it ‘pre’ of,
Korea, Grenada, Viet Nam?
I’m hoping for nothing preceding Iraq,
Though it might well lack
The plaster and lath.