3 FEBRUARY 1996, Page 38

Staying at Furnace Farm

I have heard time.

She ran down the stairs like a girl to her lover. All houses have noises. In Maggie's old house I hear a rush. It is taps, I think, water.

Unsteady with dreams, I go to the window.

No rain beats the curtains. The night is half over.

Alison Brackenbury