"My Work-Bench"

Not long ago I purchased a copy of Edna Jaques book of poems, titled " My Kitchen Window " published in 1942. The book is full of poems that speak of the joy of simple things, the joy of taking care of a home. This is one of my favorite poems in the book.

My work bench is a kitchen sink,
The table where I make my bread,
A kitchen stove...a set of shelves,
The wide, white bosom of a bed,
A woodbox filled with fragrant pine,
Wee dresses blowing on a line.

My work-bench is a window-sill,
Floors to be polished... meals to cook,
With now and then a stolen peep
Between the covers of a book--
A hurried glance, for well I know
How swift the morning hours will go.

And so my songs shall bear the print
Of bush hands that knead and stir,
The savor of an apple-pie;
Instead of frankincense and myrrh
They'll breathe of wood and bread and tea.
Of this warm sunlit room...and me.

Edna Jaques