Hilaire
The Colonel’s Daughter’s House
Second Light Poetry Competition 2008 SHORTLISTED
Hilaire reading The Colonel's Daughter's House 
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Across the way
stands the colonel’s daughter’s house.
It crowns a low hill,
aloof from the sea
of maize fields.
Square, solid, two-storeyed.
Closed metal shutters
like swabs of iodine
on the pale body of the house.
It is six months since the ambulance
beat its slow retreat
from the colonel’s daughter’s house –
down the lane,
along the B road,
no siren just
a faint pulse of blue light
struggling against the sun.
Henri cut the throttle
on his tractor,
observing the solitary cortège
while the sprinkler in his field
flicked long sprays of water
like an indifferent priest
blessing the crop.
Out of nowhere
a donkey’s plaint
sawed
the country quiet
in half.
No one can remember now
exactly when the colonel died,
nor which war he fought in.
He was a hero.
That at least
is beyond doubt.
Who now will remember
the colonel’s daughter?
Living embodiment
of her father’s memory
down the years.
In far-flung towns and villages
great-nephews, third cousins
twice removed,
begin to stir;
expectant presences
circling high above the colonel’s daughter’s house,
disturbing the air.
Across the way
we stand and watch.
Electric storms break
one after another,
gathering in beauty
and intensity.
It is only a matter of time until they pass.
We await the arrival of the notary,
the plain notice on the gate,
the chance at last
to breathe the dust
in the colonel’s daughter’s house.
Page(s) 29
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