‘The Unmade Sky’ – Poems by Ben Adams

the unmade sky

these words

touch on something lightly

like a feather drawn

through tall, dry grass

–

a figure crouched

on wide and careful feet

teasing their meaning

from between time’s floorboards

forehead resting on fingers interlocked

and listening—

–

rising to pace the old house

and place rough hands

on a splintered windowsill

seeing dark smudges

where the dust rubs away

–

to gaze across the grassy yard

over stones, bare dirt and strewn chunks

of rotting wood—

where no fire flickers

in the cool night air

–

only cinders

and a corrugated side fence

stretching down to the road

lines of iron and asphalt

at the edge of where we gathered

–

where something rests in the palm

a weightless bird

memories that perch

soft and uncertain as the grey sky

hung above like a rumpled sheet

–

the unmade sky

whispering something lightly

–

words lingering in the mind

like the smell of coffee

that no longer floats

through these rooms each morning

---

one eastern suburbs afternoon, sliding into evening

and one says to another

there are options here

and the other says to one

would you like a drink?

–

and one says to another

there is class here

and perfectly kept lawns

–

what’s on the radio?

and the other says to one

have you checked for

fallen lemons?

–

and the other says to one

is the front door locked

and have the eggs arrived

this morning?

–

and one says to another

is the wine open?

and the other says to one

have the bins

been emptied yet?

---

lights in the dark

through the darkness

we trudge

–

soldiers on a forward action cut-off from reinforcements

–

like little children lost

among the trees

–

through darkness we trudge

and seeing lights

in the distance, as if

from some farmhouse or estate

–

we say, “those are not the ones

   I remember,

–

that is not the place

   I know.”

---

Words by Ben Adams

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Unsplash

Ben is a writer, servo-clerk, research assistant and festival cash wrangler. His poetry has appeared in a range of print and online publications, including Australian Love Poems and Red Fez at redfez.net/@badbad He also shares poems and photography on Instagram @bts.adams while poems and politics can be found on his Twitter feed @badbadams

 

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