Out of the streets
of the dead swirling
in the gravy of their Day
I came into a room
of cactus and honey
where the memory of you
span on an old turntable
the colour of hand knitted socks
hanging from a clothesline of words
and all the while
a man at a table
cried into his glass
of his forsaken inamoratas
painted onto a deck of cards
laid out in a circle
sewn through with dread
he turned each one over
and there on every crinkled verso
a beakless gull with black eyes
mouthed Ave Maria
catching my sleeve for pity
as a full house of errors
spilled from my breast pocket
where the best secrets are kept
First published Svensk Apache Press Sweden March 2018
‘Walking Through Fences’ ASM & Cerberus 2018 p 22
James Walton Poetry 
Wow Jim â a clothesline of words â I love it. and the whole spinning theme. Appropriate for everyone at the moment I think. I wonder what colour handknitted soxks are? I had a bit of trouble with the âcrinkled versoâ though â as a long-time player of Patience, you wouldnât play with crinkled, creased cards. Something saying theyâre all the same on the back, maybe? âidenticalâ? Virginia Dr Virginia Lowe Create a Kids’ Book createakidsbook.com.au PO Box 2, Ormond Victoria 3204 ph: 03 9578 5689 mob: 0400 488 100 Stories, Pictures and Reality: Two children tell (Routledge 2007) Lines Between Virginia and John Lowe (Melbourne Poets Union 2018) Description: Description: Lines Between front cover
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Yes, I know what you mean. I was thinking he had made the cards himself, and was stuck there with them. I think!
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I see JIm – handmade cards. Not very likely though – but it’s your poem of course! Chance, and playing patience – i’ve written a lot on them. Virginia
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Absolutely stunning poem James. Love the subject, imagery and rhythm.
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I was a great fan of Lowry in my youth – I don’t want to go back in case I’m disappointed!
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