Corn was at twelve cents a bushel,
a good deal cheaper than coal,
so we fed our stoves with corn
and, sometimes, with twists of hay
or cow chips. Some folks had
the new Hay-Burner stoves
that would burn all night on one twist,
but not us. On the night
that the big storm struck, we burned
the floorboards from the side-porch
and some of the furniture
because we couldn’t reach the barn
for fuel. My sister was born
about two in the morning
with my grandmother tending
my mother. We pinned up quilts
and sheets along the walls
and over the bed to keep the snow
off Mother and the baby.