Karen Hayes
A Pembrokeshire Poetry CycleSample Passages
Wax Ty Rees Parrog stores
How many candles burned
In lighthouse miniature,
When one flame at the window
Was enough to tell a fisherman how far
He was from home. How far
From the wrecking rim of the bay,
How far from a bowl of broth
And the warming body locked around
His own, when you are cold and can only
Be warmed from inside.
How many candles flickered
On that out-breath of relief:
He’s home, or dread: He’s home,
Or disbelief: He’s not.
The nine moons’ turning darkness leave
A rocking cradle or an empty bed.
The fish pour from the nets,
Coal tipped in the scuttle for another week,
A step down to the stores for a slab of bacon on tick
And a pack of thin, white tapers.
How many candles shone
On nights identically black,
Each blessed in its paper wrapper,
Each hope confessed again.
And how many ears at the flaring pane
Awaiting the crunch of keel
And scrape of oars and the hefted nets and pots.
How that little light picks out a cigarette,
The glisten of spit on shingle, toe and heel,
Wet boots upon the beach.
Wax Ty Rees Parrog stores
How many candles burned
In lighthouse miniature,
When one flame at the window
Was enough to tell a fisherman how far
He was from home. How far
From the wrecking rim of the bay,
How far from a bowl of broth
And the warming body locked around
His own, when you are cold and can only
Be warmed from inside.
How many candles flickered
On that out-breath of relief:
He’s home, or dread: He’s home,
Or disbelief: He’s not.
The nine moons’ turning darkness leave
A rocking cradle or an empty bed.
The fish pour from the nets,
Coal tipped in the scuttle for another week,
A step down to the stores for a slab of bacon on tick
And a pack of thin, white tapers.
How many candles shone
On nights identically black,
Each blessed in its paper wrapper,
Each hope confessed again.
And how many ears at the flaring pane
Awaiting the crunch of keel
And scrape of oars and the hefted nets and pots.
How that little light picks out a cigarette,
The glisten of spit on shingle, toe and heel,
Wet boots upon the beach.