"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.
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 behind
in Peter's house.
Maybe 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.
