Night Owl
In the worrisome hours before dawn you’d be up
quartering the house for silent chores.
Never an easy relationship, you’d send
letters or cards I treasured. Four-thirty,
I’ve just finished ironing. You hated fluorescent
tubes, preferred the lamp’s seduced light.
I saw you in the kitchen’s amber glow,
perched at the table or ironing board,
a mug of Yorkshire tea at your elbow;
the loop and glide of your cursive hand.
Annie Wright‘s most recent collection is Dangerous Pursuit of Yellow (for details see smokestack-books.co.uk). A founder member of Vane Women, Annie edits for their press and, since moving to SW Scotland, runs poetry workshops and The Lit Room Press.