Elizabeth Bewick
Young Woman on a Swing
(for John Greening)
I found it with his treasures when he died:
a sepia photograph, its edges curled,
young woman on a swing, grave, steady–eyed.
All his own work, why did he need to hide
her likeness from the still incurious world?
I found it with his treasures when he died.
A classic pose, head proud and turned aside
as if she read the future there unfurled,
young woman on a swing, grave, steady–eyed.
I doubt she let him take her for a ride,
real or imagined, as her long skirt swirled;
I found her with his treasures when he died.
Until the day when she became his bride
he was too shy to dance, nor ever whirled
his woman on a swing, grave, steady–eyed.
She never crossed him and she never lied,
he was her life, the focus of her world;
I found her with his treasures when he died:
my mother on a swing, grave, steady–eyed.
a sepia photograph, its edges curled,
young woman on a swing, grave, steady–eyed.
All his own work, why did he need to hide
her likeness from the still incurious world?
I found it with his treasures when he died.
A classic pose, head proud and turned aside
as if she read the future there unfurled,
young woman on a swing, grave, steady–eyed.
I doubt she let him take her for a ride,
real or imagined, as her long skirt swirled;
I found her with his treasures when he died.
Until the day when she became his bride
he was too shy to dance, nor ever whirled
his woman on a swing, grave, steady–eyed.
She never crossed him and she never lied,
he was her life, the focus of her world;
I found her with his treasures when he died:
my mother on a swing, grave, steady–eyed.
Page(s) 16
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