The Hoarder

by cassie hughes   Nov 11, 2020


Piled high the boxes reach
to brush against the ceiling,
Spiders scale the paper mountains
and weave their webs in cardboard
tubes once swathed in tissue,
A narrow path of carpet,
worn thin by shuffling steps,
weaves its way through
this lifetimes work.
Chaos it seems rules here
yet in these stacks of riff and raff
some order lies for he whom
it belongs.
Beware the thief who dares
remove a single tattered item
from the household of
the hoarder.

    report violation
4


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Latest Comments

  • 4 years ago

    by Michael

    cassie (not Katie ;)
    I worked as a support worker in the community, many years ago. I actually supported a person who hoards, and you have to see it to believe it!
    You have penned this in such a mindful way, and portrayed exactly if anything is taken, or moved.
    I really like this, albeit an underlying sadnes.
    M :)x

    • 4 years ago

      by cassie hughes

      Hehe.
      When I was working on an elderly care ward as a student nurse a pair of twins were admitted who were in their 80's and the paramedic described how they had had to almost crawl through the house to get to them. I have done home visits since in similar circumstances but never to the extreme that he told us about. Thank you for your lovely comments I'm glad it came over well for you

  • 4 years ago

    by Mr. Darcy

    Cassie, this is not a subject matter is certainly a first for me to read on here. I work in sheltered housing, so, I've personal experience of this condition. Some people think the person is just lazy, but it can, quite often, be a deep rooted emotional issue. You've described the symptoms well. A scrap of paper with no obvious purpose, can be vital and certainly not to be thrown away.

    Well done for highlighting this issue which is debilitating.

    Take care.

    • 4 years ago

      by cassie hughes

      Thank you so much for your lovely comments. As I said in my reply to Michael I have seen this myself in the past. It is such a misunderstood condition.

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