---
title: "Miss Hathaway Sweeps Her Path in Autumn 1916"
url: "https://ruthocallaghan.com/poems/miss-hathaway-sweeps-her-path"
updated: 2026-10-12
description: "\"Miss Hathaway Sweeps Her Path in Autumn 1916\", a poem by Ruth O'Callaghan from Vortices."
---

# Miss Hathaway Sweeps Her Path in Autumn 1916

     i.m. of the women ‘canaries’ who suffered mental and physical problems\
     due to the toxic chemicals they worked with in the factories

She sees they have scattered gold\
where the gate once hung\
to tempt her from the path

to tempt her to cross the cracks\
they even placed a black cat\
beyond the boundary

she knew safe. She will not sing\
though they call her canary.\
Her yellow hand swoops

a feather from the path to sweep\
the gold to shelter by the blind\
daffodils, bound since March

when they pretended dead – fallen\
innocents in a time where diatribe\
reigns and generals

remain at the rear. She recognises\
each passing person’s greeting\
knowing the code:

a hand half-raised – the salute –\
the head inclined to the left\
– the warning –

or a nod which means she must leave\
within the week. Speech\
is not exchanged.

When he who comes with words lingers\
where brambles guard the path\
she will close the air

where the gate once hung. If the time\
prove auspicious she will pluck\
a snowdrop to light her way.

_From Vortices (Shoestring Press, 2016)_