After the Fire Page 19
Karen came to Henrietta and asked, “Do you think it’s time that we maybe said a little bit about Miss James?”
“Yes,” Henrietta said.
Karen tapped her glass until the room was quiet.
“I didn’t ask anyone ahead of time to make a speech, but I thought maybe now anyone who wanted to say something could. I’ve only known Miss James—and all of you—for a bit more than a year, but I learned a lot from her, maybe mostly about living alone. She did it so well I began to think I might learn to like it. I still don’t, but I can do it.”
There was an amused murmur.
“She talked a lot about her travels. One of her teacups or a picture could start her off, and maybe part of the secret of living alone well is collecting a lot of good memories. She had the courage to do that. The first brave thing I ever did in my life was moving to this island. The next bravest thing I’m going to do is go to Japan.”
“One day,” Riley said, “when I gave her a lift into town, she had me nearly talked into going to Alaska, and I still think maybe some day I’ll make it.”
“Miss James,” said Henrietta from Miss James’ chair, “would have had a poem to recite.”
Everyone nodded.
“She was a good, wise friend to me. I’m going to miss her very much,” Henrietta concluded.
That simplicity encouraged others without confidence in their eloquence to share an anecdote or a bit of homely philosophy, letting short silences fall between speakers without any sense of embarrassment. It was a ritual they understood.
Finally Red stepped forward and said, “I’ve memorized a poem Miss James liked. It’s called ‘Rumination’ by Richard Eberhart.
When I can hold a stone within my hand
And feel time make it sand and soil, and see
The roots of living things grow in this land,
Pushing between my fingers flower and tree,
Then I shall be as wise as death,
For death has done this and he will
Do this to me, and blow his breath
To fire my clay, when I am still.”
“Thank you, Red,” Henrietta said.
It was about Hart’s roses, she supposed, or her own lilies, living consolations against the rebuking furniture. Miss James went on reading poetry far too long in order to keep sharing it with the young who might need to think death was wise instead of simply mindless.
“This is also now a house-warming,” Karen said, holding up a new bottle of wine, “for Red.”
About the Author
Jane Rule (1931–2007) was the author of several novels and essay collections, including the groundbreaking lesbian love story Desert of the Heart (1964), which was made into the feature film Desert Hearts. She was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2007. Born in New Jersey, Rule moved to Canada in 1956, and lived on Galiano Island, British Columbia, until her death at the age of seventy-six.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The poem “Rumination” by Richard Eberhart, appearing on pages 237–238 is from COLLECTED POEMS 1930–1986 by Richard Eberhart. Copyright © 1988 by Richard Eberhart. Reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press, Inc.
Appearing on page 41 are twelve lines, three stanzas, from A. E. Housman’s “To an Athlete Dying Young,” are reprinted from THE COLLECTED POEMS OF A. E. HOUSMAN, Copyright © 1939, 1940, 1965 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. Copyright © 1967, 1968 by Robert E. Symons. Reprinted by permission of Henry Holt and Company, Inc.
The poem on pages 193–194 is by Emily Dickinson and is reprinted from THE COLLECTED POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON.
Copyright © 1989 by Jane Rule
Cover design by Tracey Dunham
978-1-4804-2946-8
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