ESTATE INVENTORY
On 1786 the 22 of July came the undersigned upon request of the widow Lisa Hansdotter in Grängstorp with the official estate inventory and estimation of loose property after her man the late Peter Hindersson died.
She kept the tiled
cast iron stove,
the cow called Nygards,
the little bull, too, and
the ewe with lamb.
The pewter pot
went where she went,
wherever widows went
in 1786, in northern Europe,
in summer.
The list is burgeoning
with things she left behind:
the drinking glasses, wooden
bucket, working harness, black
mare. When Lisa left,
she kissed goodbye the
coal bins, coal cart,
the old fire hooks.
We can’t know now
if she was sad to hitch
the cow to her good wagon,
and to lead the ewe and lamb
to greener pastures. Or,
what it felt like,
rolling through the town
with that displaced stove
high on the cart
in July sun.
I can imagine her,
hands on hips, surveying
the old water barrel,
cheese tubs and milk pot
(with ladle) all left
in Peter's house.
Thinking
how the little bull will
bring good money
when he’s grown, and how
the warmth of that big stove
will feel when
winter comes
again.
