Chris Hardy
A Moment of Attention
The barn built from boards nailed
To a frame, like a boat.
The purlins,
Slotted into the end walls of the house,
Still firm but the boards split, slipped.
On an August afternoon
The still air inside is cool.
Warm fans of light spread out
In silence. hung with dust.
The swallows who live in the rafters
Shoot out of the open doors
To dive-bomb our black cat,
Crouching and ducking
On the porch roof.
A woman lived in the house, alone,
Fetching water from a spring.
She stayed indoors and grew fat
In the firelight, her face burning,
Her back cold.
I cleared a rats' nest
From beneath the stairs.
It took a day to smash her bed
And drag it out.
A trail of wax inches thick led
From the bed-side down to the grate.
In the dump outside we found
Broken crocks, a spoon and big, green,
Oval Gilbey's empties.
After a hot day the roof cracks
Like gunshot.
In the barn, feathery, patched,
Broken, so light
That it might blow away,
It's easy to know
That there is only now,
That life is short.
A moment of attention
And be full of life
And want to live
Until you've had enough. This
Is the easiest thing
To forget.
Page(s) 15-16
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