after Cape Cod Morning by Edward Hopper
It took twenty years or more
before the trees gave up their souls
and bodies to the woodcutter.
Summer, autumn, winter and spring
seasoned the sappy wood before
they cut it into boards
to build the house and paint it white,
catching the light which seemed to fall
sideways on her waiting face
as she stood for hours in the place
where she could watch
the ever-empty sea.
commended in the Poetry Society Stanza competition, autumn 2014
Published in ‘Wordstrokes’: The Poetry of Art, 2015