Cupboard

I went there seeking something to pour water into
and found that I was something to pour water into.

I went there seeking tiny grains and seed.
Blackbirds were wintering in my head
and I had to feed them.

We only need one cupboard, don’t we?
We could keep it empty and closed most of the time.

It is white of course and if there were a war
we could unhinge its door and carry it into the fields
as a kind of shield.

In times of peace, we would open and close it,
whispering new words inside.

Then perhaps the word itself
could find a way
to protect us.

Mary Crockett Hill
“Cupboard” appeared in Snow Monkey, 2009 and A Theory of Everything (Autumn House Press, 2009).