Upon Returning Home After a Long Time
There are many feelings
relief unfurls
spreads its arms
stands about gazing
at familiar things
everything still where she left it
only this time
there is also so much
more stacked neatly
but stacked stacked
stacked
in boxes and tins
big and small
along the wall
upon the beds
all these items
from her parental home
awaiting integration
a new phase
a sort of re-familiarization
that will come in time
The stillness of home is sweet
yet at first requires
re-acquaintance
remember you like this
you cherish it
empty as it first seems
the shell of the house
nourishes like an egg
once she’s found herself
more fully back
more fully in the swing of chores
sweeping ashes
a winter morning ritual
before laying kindling
running water to fill the kettle
from her kitchen tap
into her kettle
the floor cold in sock feet
the lattice of branches and light
through the many windows
the renewed windows!
the sense that here
it’s all her way
the wind howling outside
highlights the comfortable
tranquility within
the woodstove ticking
now and then
embers glowing
Fannie whirling silently
yes, she likes all of this
home is a little world
unto itself
the trees stand sentinel
about the house
reliable presences
trimmed of twigs and branches
by blustering gusts
the woodshed stacked full
and my, the squirrels have been busy
gnawing acorns shredding shells
covering every stove-lenghth log
in a layer of fragments
the spiders wonder
what bristles are these
chasing me down
after months of living unhindered
their filaments fine
woven suspended
embroidering &
joining disparate things
filling corners
the books the baskets the brooms
the plants the pots the pantry
the cups the cutlery
the salt cellar
all grown lonely
from lack of attention
and use
it takes time
to give them their due
appreciate their unstinting service
your reconnections
but it comes
more and more
daily
the house warms
to the life within it
and the floors again
could do with daily sweeping
Blessedly the snow has come
to cover the grey brown proliferation
of grasses leaves and twiglets
of brambles and self-satisfied
deep-rooted summer vegetation that gladly
took hold everywhere in her absence
naturally of course
filling in
now
new snowscapes
are drifting in layers
creating fresh white marvels
to please the eye
and record delicate paw prints
in the always dynamic
outside world
it seems a black squirrel has taken up residence
chasing the grey one that came before
she wonders whether the red ones
who chitter and trill so insistently
are somewhere about
and are those skinny legged
cat or fox prints?
fox is perhaps wishful thinking
but she did the other night hear
the yipping lament
of coyotes in the distance
the crows as always
look resplendent perched
with great certainty high
up in trees and when she sees gitpu’s wingspan
far far higher in the sky
w i d e and w h e e l i n g
she feels glad to be watched over
in today’s snowstorm
to her surprise
the Widow Wyile witnessed
a wavering V of geese
flapping above her head
crossing the ridge to the next valley
honking and fighting the gusts
in the wintry grey sky
an unusual sight
in late January