A Drink of Water
She came every morning to draw water
like an old bat staggering up the field:
The pump’s whooping cough, the bucket clatter
And slow diminuendo as it filled,
Announced her. I recall
Her grey apron, the pocked white enamel
of the brimming bucket, and the treble
Creak of her voice like the pump’s handle.
Nights when a full moon lifted past her gable
It fell back through her window and would lie
Into the water set out on the table.
Where I have dipped to drink again, to be
Faithful to the admonishment of her cup,
Remember the Giver fading off the lip.
by Seamus Heaney
from To Read a Poem
Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1992
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