The Fir Tree Prisoner
- The Fir Tree Prisoner
I heard distinctly the gusty wind, and the driving of the snow; I heard, also, the fir bough repeat its teasing sound.
—Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
In my night dreams, a fir tree hand knocksits knuckle on the windowpane. Try as I might,I cannot force the glass out of its soldered frame,but the fir remains my night companion,stiffening in its bark at sunrise, and when I wakethe bedclothes are soaked by dew, or milk, or sap. [End Page 200]
Zoë Brigley is originally from Wales but now lives in Pennsylvania. She has published two poetry collections in the United Kingdom: The Secret (Bloodaxe, 2007) and Conquest (Bloodaxe, 2012). Both were UK Poetry Book Society recommendations. She has taught creative writing at University of Warwick and University of Northampton. She coedited the volume Feminism, Literature, and Rape Narratives (Routledge, 2010).
