From An Invitation to Poetry, edited by Robert Pinsky and Maggie Dietz.
\nOn loan (rakkity knows what that means) from Chris.<\/p>\n
from “Clearances”<\/p>\n
When all the others were away at Mass
\nI was all hers as we peeled potatoes.
\nThey broke the silence, let fall one by one
\nLike solder weeping off the soldering iron:
\nCold comforts set between us, things to share
\nGleaming in a bucket of clean water.
\nAnd again let fall. Little pleasant places
\nFrom each other\u00c3\u00ads work would bring us to our senses.<\/p>\n
So while the parish priest at her bedside
\nWent hammer and tongs at the prayers for the dying
\nAnd some were responding and some crying
\nI remembered her head bent towards my head
\nHer breath mine, our fluent dipping knives —
\nNever closer the whole rest of our lives.<\/p>\n
Seamus Heaney<\/p>\n
Listen <\/a><\/p>\n Biography<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From An Invitation to Poetry, edited by Robert Pinsky and Maggie Dietz. On loan (rakkity knows what that means) from Chris. from “Clearances” When all the others were away at Mass I was all hers as we peeled potatoes. They … Continue reading