A poem by Tristan Moss

Today’s featured poem is by Tristan Moss, taken from his new pamphlet, The Cold War (Lapwing Publications, 2022).

By approaching its devastating subject matter aslant via an extended metaphor, this poem is packed with implicit questions. Therein lies its power, wondering, for example, how we verbalise our reactions to death and grief. And then it ponders what type of driver we are. Or what type of mourner…

MY DAD’S DEATH

a van
speeding down the motorway,
backdoors flailing
boxes falling out.
Some drivers keeping their distance,
others trying to get by,
or some like myself
picking up what’s been left behind.

(Previously published in issue 203 of Snakeskin)