travelpoem # 2
her grandfather built the cottage
one hundred years ago
single room thick walled
white the kind you see in
coffee table books
I sit in the inglenook
is there an irish name
for that recessed spot
with seats on two sides
fire in the middle you can
look right up the chimney
she shows me how to turn the handle
of the large wheel against the wall
that somehow sends air up through
the bottom of the grate
I crank it round and round
make the peat glow brightly
she says when you do something new
you are supposed to make a wish
my wish is to come back
to Lena’s cottage
© Jacqueline Jackson 2005
This article appears in Mar 24-30, 2005.
