Reverberations

old cottage, Victor Harbor

these walls keep whispers
reverberations through air
and time
places, lives

cracked plaster peels back
and the weight of brick
presses in, around the edges of rooms
like weather patterns

iced air outside braced
against dusty warmth within
the crackle of a fire not yet caught
but trying

so shift the kindling
and let it breathe, hang your picture
from a rusting nail – it will hold
pour the drinks and listen

to the pattering of rain
there are those of us still
who remember the beauty
of storms.

Ben Adams is a writer, servo-clerk, research assistant and festival cash wrangler, with honours in History and English. His poetry has appeared in a range of print and online publications, featured in the 2018 ‘Raining Poetry in Adelaide’ street-art project, and at Quart Short Collective’s ‘Spring Shorts’ reading night. He was also a feature poet with Paroxysm Press for its regular spoken word event, ‘Spoke N Slurred’, and as part of their ‘Showcase’ series at the 2019 Adelaide Fringe. Also in 2019, ‘Eclectica Magazine’ published his personal essay ‘A Radical Liberalism’, and his first poetry collection ‘A Synonym for Sobriety’ won the 2019 Friendly Street Single Poet award and was published in November. Ben is at Facebook.com/bts.adams.

Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected]. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.