Rose Cook
Now
Now that the house is quiet all day
time spreads itself like too much material
so she could make a stall of it in the Lower Market
where women, overalled over two coats
stand the whole day before bolts of cloth
tossing it free to measure briskly
metre after metre with their mittened hands
intelligent in the archaic maths of width and coverage
crunch cut you a piece with heavy scissors
fold in a brown paper parcel
to hand over.
If you’re after remnants
she has those
on the floor, in a box by your feet.
First published in her collection Taking Flight, Oversteps Books, 2009
Page(s) 6
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