Female Hermit for Hire

If I  could choose another life
another time
I would choose to become a for-hire
hermit.
I would dwell in the eighteenth
century live in a stone hovel
on the grounds of some fine
Earl's estate.

What would it be like to be a for-hire
Female hermit
I would let my hair go grey
wear a crown of  daisies trudge
around in sandals
and whisper sweet words to rabbits

When visited by my master
I would always wish him well
and hand him a glass of cold water
in and give him words of wisdom
that we would cherish  when he
dealt with the peevish male of the house.

My hermit self would demand a goat and
a donkey makes smelly cheese  in the
in the dark back of my hut and
ride at night to the cliff's  edge hurl
chants and epithets at the sea

As a female for-hire hermit. I would
become a legend just like
my students  remember and
quote, wise words that I never said.

Ah yes, I should go back to the hermit way of life.