Copyright is held by the author.
Rising in the darkness of another day.
she heard no sound but hers.
The housemaid filled the pail with water
that might have drowned the world.
Then came the fire rising.
Fiercely the stove leapt into life,
alert and determined against the chill.
She lit the kindling in the sharp air.
Iced water at the pump fell
on her skin till there were tears.
Her mind did not question
the hope of heaven for her labours.
Her heart opened alone in the house.
The night had seen the summer’s ending
when all earth, all life had hardened.
To wake was to wonder at the absence
on her way down to another day
