The abandoned boathouse

An abandoned boathouse stood on the edge
Of a placid lake, behind a hedge

No one visits it anymore

But not too far back there would be
Lovestruck couples who would come to see
The lake from this shore

They would come to see the colors of the sun
As it slowly sank below the horizon
Across the twinkling waves

They would ride their boats around the lake
Their lovers or their brides along they'd take
To chase the setting sun

Among those people was a beautiful girl
Whose smile would make the heartstrings twirl
Of one handsome boy

Every day they'd meet and talk
Of the dreams they'd chase, the paths they'd walk
As they grow old together

Of the house they'd build, for their many cute kids
Over pillars of trust, with their love as bricks
What a happy home it'd be!

From this house, their dreams they'd chase
And come back by dusk to its warm fireplace
Into each others arms

They'd talk these things as they rode in the boat
Or walked hand in hand along the shore
Lost in the other's eyes

At the end of the day, they'd part with a kiss
And sing a love song on how much they'd miss
Each other that night

All this I recount from many moons ago
They don't visit the boathouse anymore
I wonder what they've become

But if you've ever had a husband or a wife
Or if you've been an astute student of life
You can easily surmise

That they would no longer be singing
Love songs, but instead be bickering
Over life's mundane things

That they would no longer dream, but only rue
Their dreams of youth that never came true
And the unfairness of life

They'd perhaps be living in a sad little house
With its walls plastered with many a grouse
And no love lost in the bricks

And around its fireplace they'd never huddle
They'd have no time for kisses or a cuddle
Or for any of those silly things

And the house of their dreams would be lying alone
In dreams that they never visit anymore
Abandoned, like the boathouse