The Friday Poem: ‘Sober in Civic Square’ by Orion Foote
Ronnie van Hout’s Quasi, on the roof of City Gallery Wellington
A new poem by Orion Foote.
Sober in Civic Square
(for Geoff)
It was one of those tri-syllabic months:
the ones with a stress point
smack in the middle —
harbinger of ochre nights
and good riddance to Irish stews & a hot bath.
You said Tin Nimbus was still on the burner,
and awkward isn’t awkward —
not when spaces breathe the same air.
Just for a second,
I thought we’d nailed it in one;
you all sonic blue & bug eyed
and me as one of Cocteau’s angels
dreaming across the palazzo —
living our lives backwards,
like Benjamin Button
narrating the blink of an eye.
The Friday Poem is brought to you by Nevermore Bookshop, home of kooky, spooky romance novels and special edition book boxes. Visit Nevermore Bookshop today.
The Friday Poem is edited by Hera Lindsay Bird. Submissions are currently closed.
Orion Foote
Orion Foote is a poet and chronicler residing on the West Coast of New Zealand. He is a fourth generation mixed Chinese/European descendant - he describes himself as a translator of sensory perception. He has been published by NZSA ‘Top of the South’ and STEM Writers, Nelson. Recently, his poems have appeared in the Katherine Mansfield Society’s peer reviewed yearbook ‘Studies’, published by Edinburgh University Press. He is a member of his local writing group, Mawhera Writers.
