Poems: Sun, Salt and Story and Tuesday Evening
A pair of contrasting poems by Josh Sargent make up this week’s Poet’s Corner.
Sun, Salt and Story
Sea salt gin and a modern classic ‒
A wicked pairing
For a gloriously unproductive afternoon
Steinbeck or Fitzgerald?
No matter.
The pressed paper is an unfailing way
to lose yourself between the lines
Deck chair or lounge ‒
Either will do
The perfect vessel
For the quiet love affair
Between sun and story.
The bottle thins,
The hours spill
And only the soft turning of pages remain.
Tuesday Evening
Drizzly, cold June night.
Tales of drought in my damp hands,
A glass of red ‒ half drunk,
Four bucks a bottle.
Rich for my blood.
An imperfect silence,
Broken only by
The shallow barking
Of an untrained American Staffy.
It is cold.
And it is quiet.
Josh Sargent grew up in country South Australia, living in Berri and Port Lincoln. A university student with a passion for reading and music, he has also always enjoyed writing, with poetry particularly offering a way for expressing the observation ‘of small moments and everyday scenes’.
Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected].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.