Hearth
A Response
Someone has to face the cold.
Someone has to scrape the earth
for living, bring in the coal,
the split wood, lay the briquettes
and splinters on the chilled hearth
like small black pillows to char,
break the iron air, stoke the morning
into light. Let the children sleep five
minutes more, cuddle their bears a little
longer, dream before age robs them.
I will dress in dark and take the charge.
I will trudge in with the hard fuel
and warm the house to make it a home.
Someone has to face the cold.
Bio:
Nicholas Samaras was born and raised in Foxton, Cambridgeshire, England, and Patmos, Greece. His first book won The Yale Series of Younger Poets Award. He is currently working on a new book of poetry, a 300-page Memoir, and is trying to write his way back to England. This poem, "Hearth," is a companion poem.
