Monhegan Island with Manana beyond |
http://www.wikiart.org/en/jamie-wyeth/monhegan-s-schoolteacher-2004
ISLAND SCHOOLTEACHER
After Jamie Wyeth
a wink on the distant western horizon
Pemaquid Light greets the early morning
skies still star rich with dawn’s approach
beyond her window Manana a silent sentinel
snow blanketed it is impossible to chance
upon Norse runes etched in its coarse granite
somewhere near its hidden bleating foghorn
a rising tide washes around Casket Rock
as it slowly vanishes into its watery crypt
harbor emptied of all boats the island
lobstermen gone to sea to pull their traps
the Laura B rounding Nigh Duck passing
Smutty Nose to the rime-encrusted wharf
this is what she sees from her cottage
secreted above dark village & quiet harbor
she sits naked at her bare morning table
fresh from a bath her hair towel wrapped
it drapes across her back & thigh cloaking
her modesty from the gaze of no one present
she does not stare toward the winter sea
the village houses rising like tombstones
from the snowfields beyond her window
her attention rests only on an open book
a piece of toast clenched between her teeth
she quietly plans her day’s lessons dismissing
another long night of tired lonesomeness
& dreams of a day she boards the Laura B
when it takes her quickly & far from this place