They ting-tonged
all through the day and restless night
so we took them down
when I was there.

Next time I arrived,
she left them in their day-time place
and I took them down
at night to sleep.

When she was gone
the family
prepared the house for sale.
The wind chimes were still there –

so were her roses
her ginger jars
her tiny figurines;
so were the shed tools
frayed fishing gear
of our long-ago dad.

We filled a skip with memories
but could not pull down the chimes.
The buyer loved them.
They still ring all day and night.
My mother would have liked that.

Irene Wilkie

 

Irene Wilkie has published two poetry collections with Ginninderra Press (2005, 2013), Love and Galactic Spiders and Extravagance (Highly Commended in ACT Writing and Publishing Awards 2014.) The latter was republished as a paperback and e-book in 2017 in eight other outlets. Her third book is almost complete. Her work has been published in Award Winning Australian Writers, Going Down Swinging, Australian Poetry Journal, and many others.

© 2018