Published 1 October 202110 November 2021 · Poetry / Friday Features / Friday Poetry Poetry | To sleep in a strange place Sam Morley 1. in a corner of the dark he paces lickety-split arms stiff to his sides hands flat out fidgeting it is definitely not ballet he spins a few circles then claims he needs to pee I pull him close to breathe and breathe until he finds a groove in the liquid gloom the heartbeats loosen into something at ease and holding five fingers wide I run an index up and down the skin coaxing a little Buddha and I speak mantras so my youngest might lasso his runaway self we talk of how the night beaches in holiday homes and if you close your eyes the blackness can somehow be your own type of tar I say count the sheep leap the fence time to be ready prone to the dusk braver now he says Dad stay close make enough sound so it’s not just me and silence 2. under the cloak of this house he calls but never for me all night gun barrel dreams make him sound round notes and I become the far off rain clotted cries ripple the night’s barn fending off some floor stripped away in that moment no longer a father only a bubble loom croon a hollow fur flying by a clink of chains in the darkness a hinge opening on a home Overland’s Friday Features project is supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund. Sam Morley Sam Morley is an emerging poet living in Melbourne. His work has been published by Cordite Poetry Review, Red Room Poetry, Hunter Writer’s Centre and shortlisted in the ACU Poetry Prize 2020. More by Sam Morley › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays First published in Overland Issue 228 24 November 202324 November 2023 · Friday Poetry Poem with vertical viewfinder Shari Kocher If in future an image of mine— of course, I have made the if-ness of your looking a multiple Ferris wheel turned to trolley car trundling down the street. Damn, I will show you something all right here, inside the daily or what you call private. First published in Overland Issue 228 3 November 20233 November 2023 · Poetry our neighbours poem Ender Başkan our neighbours face appears above the fence – hello. our neighbours have a chat with us. our neighbours learn our names. our neighbours become our friends. our neighbours landlord thinks the market is ripe. our neighbours are told to leave. our neighbours try to buy their house at an exorbitant price to keep their kids in the school zone. our neighbours are denied.
