Myra Schneider
Generosity
At first you rejoice in the amplitude:
room opening into high-ceilinged room, the gravity
of leather in the library, the shine on newel posts,
views from your turret. Wandering into the garden
you marvel at artichoke heads sprouting
thistles, onions bulging beside marrow trumpets.
In the greenhouse a transistor playing Vivaldi
to heavy tomato clusters enchants you.
Re-entering, you notice gilt crucifixes
long as daggers at every turn and red slashes
across cigarettes which shout, ‘Thou shalt not!’
An elderly woman barks you into the herd
she’s driving into the Victorian dining-room.
In the grey hush she intones grace gracelessly.
At a refectory table you suffer two fishcakes
in lurid jackets, peas from the freezer,
the director’s welcoming speech: a timetable
of his holy life rolled up with intricate instructions
for locking doors and slapped in your face.
You reject the smell of righteousness
but it sours thoughts, seeps into notebooks ....
At home in your cluttered suburban kitchen
you sit eating doorsteps trickling honey, finger
the jar that collects up light, returns without stint
a series of glinting ellipses, pinhead suns. Licking
sweetness you recognise what you believe in
is laughter, arms held wide, the kiss
of kindness that succours the first feelers,
supports stems, nudges open petals.
Yours is a creed of auburn shall, crimson will.
Page(s) 40
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