The Red Brick

Marilyn Robitaille

September 3, 2023

Built by a father and his son in 1920

The little house just down the road

Is made of sturdy red, earth-red brick

Much bigger than a modern brick

And barn red through and through

Cousin to a cinder block perhaps 

No pictures can be hung inside

Unless we drill, watch for crumbling

Plaster hand-rubbed white across walls

Somebody called it “Country French”

1920s Texas farmhouse meets Monet 

Updating anything takes certain care

The builders built beyond themselves

So a hundred years after them, I’m here

Adding Mediterranean blue, bookish

Calling it our “guest house,” but it’s more

Pass by the Red Brick on the dirt road

And you’d never guess its secrets 

Brought back to life after many years

Occupants as varied as wildflowers 

Some for a long time, others for a night

Several Texas Poets’ Laureates stayed

Brought their books, regaled us lyrically

Musicians recorded albums in the living room

Families celebrated graduations and reunions

Fired up the barbeque, tapped the keg

One couple stayed over Christmas, no tree

My French friend and his Russian wife arrived,

She sang opera. He shared a good Bordeaux.

My Italian friends came direct from Rome,

Drove our Caddy, calling it “magnifico” 

South Korean guests asked for a rice cooker

Then left it growing cold for lack of use

Goat farmers and horse traders with trailers

Left streaks across the yard when it rained 

Blue-eyed honeymooners booked for a week

Enjoying simple things: spacious quiet, stars, love

The Red Brick welcomed all of them, all

Casting red, a touchstone for their memories

A milestone for our own.

Marilyn Robitaille, Ph.D. is the owner/publisher of ROMAR Press. She was recently named Managing Director of the Frazier Conservatory (opening late 2023), a planned private retreat in Stephenville, Texas, that will give special priority to non-profit organizations or events that celebrate the land, revitalization, the arts, and regional culture.