The house that lives by poetry

In the house that lives by poetry
tea is made the old, slow way,
or if you prefer, Turkish coffee
heated in a copper cezve on the stove.

Waiting is always a pleasure.

In the house that lives by poetry,
armchairs sag like soft cocoons
and a little bird rings a bell
like Eckhart Tolle.

In winter, the air in the house
smells like hay in Ted Kooser’s barn
on a warm Nebraska morning,
or the embers of a bonfire
on Eagle Pond.

In summer, there are always poets in residence
no matter what date the obituaries.
Their books we give due diligence
and leaks and cracks in the walls

are diligently ignored.

Jan FitzGerald

Jan FitzGerald is a full-time artist and poet who lives in Napier. She is the author of four previous poetry collections, the most recent being A question bigger than a hawk (The Cuba Press, 2022), and she has been shortlisted twice in the Bridport Prize poetry competition.