A Miracle for Breakfast ( Sestina, After Elizabeth Bishop )

The pot-belly stove was sultry with warmth
 its iron-embered eyes dissipating
as we dressed in our old country kitchen
  bleakly confined on that cold winter morn;
our stomachs rumbled as gangs from dire lack
our fieriness made frigid by icy drafts
 
Sly wooden cracks coerced the drafts
  seducing the last of our warmth;
bare cupboards creaked with bitter lack
  their miserly contents dissipating;
hope worked despite that wintry morn
miracles in our old country kitchen

We scoured that desolate country kitchen
  for curtain or cloth to dissuade the drafts -
coffee and crumb to cook that stark morn
  to quell our hunger and dwindling warmth;
prayed miracles without dissipating
for a meal despite provisional lack

Forecast predicted provisional lack
  out windows of the old country kitchen
the wind increased without dissipating
  and threadbare cloth was overcome by drafts;
our cheeks were reddened by little warmth
on that hypothermic Saturday morn

Saturday evening mirrored its morn
  as a neighbor knocked to assuage our lack;
brought provisions and coffee for inner warmth
  filled cupboards of our old country kitchen;
our welcoming entry sanctioned drafts
to challenge heat before dissipating

The storm billowed without dissipating
  but we rose on a pristine Sunday morn
the kitchen was cozy sans any drafts
  with n'ere a sign of provisional lack;
we shared miracles in our old country kitchen:
brewed coffee, bread, and increasing warmth

Gelid temps were dissipating to warmth
icy drafts surrendered to meager lack
Sunday morn in our old country kitchen    
~  
   
#ElizabethBishop