On the Disadvantages of Central Heating
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by Amy Clampitt cold nights on the farm， a sock-shod stove-warmed flatiron slid under the covers， mornings a damascene sealed bizarrerie of fernwork decades ago now waking in northwest London， tea brought up steaming， a Peak Frean biscuit alongside to be nibbled as blue gas leaps up singing decades ago now damp sheets in Dorset， fog-hung habitat of bronchitis， of long hot soaks in the bathtub， of nothing quite drying out till next summer： delicious to think of hassocks pulled in close， toasting forks held to coal-glow， strong-minded small boys and big eager sheepdogs muscling in on bookish profundities now quite forgotten the farmhouse long sold， old friends dead or lost track of， what's salvaged is this vivid diminuendo， unfogged by mere affect， the perishing residue of pure sensation |
