A Woman Hand Sews a Glove at Woodstock

Sewing at the window in high daylight

Hood eyes, calloused fingers endure neat rows

That track out tradition in time and taste

Ask her if she can sew gloves with eyes closed

She shifts her head once to the side, eyes low



The AA Guide to Britain - Oxfordshire 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Racing is Abandoned

Image
There will be no more racing at the dog track The earnest galloping of stick bone limbs is done All the angled trilby hats and rattling charm bracelets The coated kennel maids and deft bookmakers Fill their Thursday evenings elsewhere The Tote windows look on a more literal empty The money rattles in the deepest of pockets High fireweed and spread arm buddleia race To colonise the track remains Until the six lanes of Tarmac choke The race to a standstill starts here Inspiration: " Seance on a Wet Afternoon" (1964, Bryan Forbes) Have you ever wondered, "What Would Margaret Rutherford do?"
Read more

Summoned

Image
It happened just outside the allotments On a ground baking day in late July  The top buttons of his white shirt were rent The skin underneath was burned pink and dry He lifted his straw hat, mopped his forehead With a hanky the size of a bed sheet Then dropped to his knees as if he would wed Into a puddle since dried in the heat A woman in a headscarf and sundress Clashed the wooden gate and dropped her small purse  Crouching so that her hem swept the dust excess She cradled his head and let out a curse The horses standing in the paddock plot Flicked their tails and broke out into a trot More midcentury ramblings here What is Midcenturyology? It's the mid 20th century way of looking at geography, archaeology and local history. It's AA touring books, Red Guides or Shell archaeology gazetteers. It's Dalesman magazines or exhibitions at the Festival of Britain. You might glance it on an old railway poster or on a postcard. It is art and poetry that celebrates places and the pe...
Read more

No Special Features of Interest

Image
The detached voice of a guide book Sets aside remnants of the forever Of the green lane, bricked up door and inglenook Declares there to be “no special features of interest” Leave the foxed hard back pages alone  Look up, look around, walk boundaries Seek stories in church, pub, stone - One of them is bound to know something  The way the land sits, the contours of road Memorials, place names and weeds This dismissal shrugs the legwork load From an author who had run A charming little history of village halls is available here
Read more