An Empty Apartment

An empty apartment,
The floors bare and rough,
Once covered with carpets
And decked out with stuff,

For years housed a tenant
Who filled it with pride;
Not a thing now remains,
For she recently died.

All her chairs and her tables,
Her curtains, her bed
Have been carted away
Since their owner is dead.

All the food in the pantry,
The pots and the pans –
For death likes to visit
In spite of our plans.

Her relatives came
And they cleared the place out.
They divvied possessions - 
Of that, I’ve no doubt.

Now everything’s gone;
All the cupboards are bare.
The workmen come in
And they start to prepare.

I think for that tenant
And all of her stuff
The lease on her life
Wasn’t quite long enough.