In Memoriam M.K.H.,1911-1984 <br /> <br />The cool that came off the sheets just off the line <br />Made me think the damp must still be in them <br />But when I took my corners of the linen <br />And pulled against her, first straight down the hem <br />And then diagonally, then flapped and shook <br />The fabric like a sail in a cross-wind, <br />They made a dried-out undulating thwack. <br />So we'd stretch and fold and end up hand to hand <br />For a split second as if nothing had happened <br />For nothing had that had not always happened <br />Beforehand, day by day, just touch and go, <br />Coming close again by holding back <br />In moves where I was x and she was o <br />Inscribed in sheets she'd sewn from ripped-out flour sacks.<br /><br />Seamus Heaney<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/from-clearances-5/
