Every house settles. Every house makes odd noises. But just what are they trying to tell us?

You know those noises you hear
When lying in bed at night,
And all the world’s as still
As a glassy sea?

They can be jarring pops
Or long eerie creaks;
“Oh, that’s just the house,”
Was how it was explained to me.

Well, today, sometimes I lay
In the dark, and in my mind debate,
Just what it is the old house
Is trying to communicate.

Are those creaks the complaints
Of a weight-bearing joist,
Longing for another friend
To help out with the hoist?

Or maybe the house is finally
Shifting its position
On the merits of a slab
Versus basement foundation.

Or perhaps it’s just pleading,
For a fresh coat of paint, or
The company of a fine shade tree,
After years of bearing the brunt of the sun —

And this is how it has chosen to vent.