Poem: not the evening, but the record
This week’s Poet’s Corner contribution is from Ben Adams.
not the evening, but the record
for Nan, Marie Northmore Adams
née Fisk, 25/10/1927–21/11/2022
life leaves itself
lingering
sometimes
not spanning a certainty
having started off
with the end in sight
but more untethered
like a breaking storm
or the petering out of rain
over parched earth
and it hurts, sometimes
this shadowed road
this story we write
this power, and that glory
white pages waiting to be marked
a voice on the phone
the pottering around
setting the table just right
and we can’t help it, actually
ink and sunlight the measures of us
can’t help but fill the space
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with lemons and care, love, or cake
this piece of work we build
isn’t the evening, but the record
of impulse and precision, intuition and skill
all those known things we linger for
and long for, when they’re gone
Ben Adams is a poet, research assistant, arts reviewer, and part time servo clerk. His poems have appeared in various print and online publications, along with street-art projects and reading nights. His first full collection, ‘A Synonym for Sobriety’, was published in 2019 after winning that year’s Friendly Street Single Poet Competition, while his personal essay ‘A Radical Liberalism’ was published that same year by Eclectica Magazine. More recently, he has contributed book and music reviews for InReview, and co-authored several academic articles on subjects including ideological extremism, securitised education, masculinities and the incel movement. Ben can be found 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Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected].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.