MY LATE AUNT
This is the room where she
disentangled herself at last,
rising out of the thin, cumbering bones
as out of a deep armchair.
Each trivial thing is a talisman;
the books, brush, comb, strings of beads
hint at her story
but remain loyally silent in the dimness.
Outside, hard surfaces blaze
the light into our eyes,
surprise us with our unpreened reflections,
throw our shadows in among the traffic.
In here, the past’s dust
falls dancing from the sunbeams
onto these few abandoned fragments,
while she weaves her secret self into joy.
Peter Snow was an English and drama teacher for thirty years in Scotland before immigrating to the United States. His books are A Rosslyn Treasury (Floris Books, 2009) and The Shifty Lad (Floris Books, 2010).