A day so silent
 
(i)
A day so silent
it makes me wonder if perhaps something
momentous is happening in the outside world
 
or maybe it’s because
I didn’t have any breakfast
and haven’t yet had my lunch
 
I cut a twig of rosemary from the garden
and snip its needles
into the simmering rice
grind in a little salt
 
the cabin windows begin to steam
 
Perhaps this silence is the sound
of my soul returning?
I whisper cautiously to myself
 
(ii)
I let the fire go out last night
because the chimney sweep was coming this morning
I wasn’t that keen on getting out of bed
there were traces of nocturnal ice along the bottom of the windows
 
After he’d gone
I made and lit the fire
swept and mopped the floor
and then walked down to the sea
past bundles of quietly joyful snowdrops
and a solitary primrose
dreaming of spring
 
Upon my return
patches of the floor were still wet
so I put on some old odd socks
and danced the floor dry
sliding and shuffling and skating
to some comic silent song
 
(iii)
And to think:
only yesterday
I’d seriously considered throwing those mismatched socks away