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Poem: Outside the tram the night has no mercy

A stormy night in Adelaide in 2016 was the inspiration for this week’s Poet’s Corner contribution from Martha Landman.

Jun 07, 2017, updated Jun 07, 2017

Outside the tram the night has no mercy

A man in a long black coat
Pierre Cardin suit
shiny black leather shoes
and shaved head
stands against the window
reads his book
turns the pages
with a soft white hand
his jaw is steel
he seems unaware
of the cyclonic wind rattling
the windows behind him
it’s too dark to see
if it still rains
we all have to be
somewhere
on this relentless night
he looks like a priest
but not from the book he reads
his eyes are magnets
drawing me into those pages
an apocalypse
of dark clouds and lightning
on the front cover
concentration
in the question mark
between his brows
fingers tracking the lines
I wish to be between.

Martha Landman moved from Townsville to Adelaide at the end of December 2015. She has since joined the Friendly Street Poets. Her poems have appeared in various online journals and anthologies. As a practising psychologist, she says her poems are inspired by people and nature.

Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected].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.
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