Poem: Stage, & Arrival

Stage, & Arrival

At four you dance

as if no one is watching

but we are

by the stage of the day

these moments

as photography sticks memory

album upon album as

another mark on the door frame grows

My arms

surround you

oh delightful

cackle of expectation

exactly & not

exactly as

I wrapped

your mother

through the fears

that rattled

on the other side

of her nursery curtains

& somehow

just somehow

she survived it all

for your arrival.

Well known Adelaide poet and teacher Rory Harris currently teaches at Playford College in Adelaide’s northern suburbs. His most recent collections are milk & other poems published in 2022, and Open Hand, in conjunction with Peter McFarlane and illustrated by Mark Rashleigh, published this year.

Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected].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