Exhibit 'A'
The McGillivray barn
before the family murders:
To the right you can make out
the timbered stalls, the chaff
scattered across the stone floor
and at the far end
the open double doors;
then, you may notice
the recycled iron hooks hammered
into the central crossbeam.
Six of them, newly installed
by the blacksmith who carried out
the instruction insisting
with a shake of his head
they were mounted too high
for halters and bridles.
You won't hear the children's
laughter as they clamber over
the combine harvester in the yard
or see Sissy McGillivray, framed
in the kitchen door on baking day,
wipe her hands on her apron,
call them in for lemonade.
*Michelle McGrane lives in Johannesburg and blogs at Peony Moon . Her collection The Suitable Girl is published by Pindrop Press in the UK and Modjaji Books in South Africa.
