Patricia Cole, Under Eaves

Patricia Cole
UNDER EAVES

4 a.m.: moonlight, luminous.

I have stepped onto the front porch
to smoke.

I don’t see any shadows except for what gathers
under the eaves of our house.

Nothing stirs except the neighbor’s St. Bernard
who walks right by, not even five feet away.

I would call to her, but nothing stirs.

4 o’clock: moonlight, luminous, no shadows

Author’s Comment: I came to poetry by reading such poets as Mary Oliver, Betty Adcock, Rita Dove, Anne Sexton, and Bill Collins. What a line up, what diversity. I also came to poetry with a strong desire to write about the world around and inside me. I’m thrilled to be a part of the writing culture here in North Carolina and a member of the North Carolina Poetry Society where I am well nourished. This poem, “Under Eaves,” was inspired from a Tomas Transtromer poem titled “Track.” Transtromer is the 2011 recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Bio: Patty Cole studies writing in the creative writing program at Central Carolina Community College in Pittsboro, NC. She is working on her first chapbook and is looking forward to starting graduate school this fall. She lives in Chatham County, NC, with her husband, Hoyt, on their 17-acre farm.