FIRE STARTING 1916

A HOUSE MAID IN 1916 LIGHTING FIRES AND DREAMING OF BETTER THINGS

Polly hates doing out the fireplaces
hates the soot and dust,

she wears an apron
around her waist to keep
her uniform clean
and a scarf around her hair
to keep out soot and muck,

once she's cleared it all out
and dust panned it all away
she screws up newspaper
and puts it down
in the fireplace
and lays firewood on top
and then carefully places
pieces of coal on top of it all,

then sits back on her heels
and stares at it,

the fifth fire
she's done this morning,

well before those upstairs
get out of bed or wake up
she muses, wiping her hands
on the apron,

she takes a match out of the box
and strikes it and a flame
blazes up and she puts it
onto the newspaper and sits
watching it slowly start up
and spread and is glad
it hasn't gone out
as the one in the breakfast room
did earlier and she let out
a f**k it curse around the room,

the fire takes off
and she sighs and smiles,

and gets up on her legs
and wipes her hands
on the apron again
until they're clean
as best they can be
and rubs her backside
smoothing down
the black pinafore dress,

and looks as the fire is well away
and taking her dustpan and brush
and matches she walks
from the room and walks
along the passage way
toward the kitchen,

where old Gripe the cook
will await her with moans and groans
and Mr Dudman the butler
will want to know
why she's taken so long,

but she doesn't give a crap
she just wants a cup of tea
and bit of cake
and dream of the return
of Master George from
the trenches in France
and maybe if she's lucky
a good screw in his bed that night,

she smiles to herself,

well he might.