The Friday Poem on 17/03/23
This poem comes from Jodie Hollander’s second collection Nocturne, which will be published by Pavilion in April. Set in a technicolour world of dreams, ghosts, classical music, and Key West storms, Nocturne is about the daughter of a professional classical pianist. We chose ‘Evening on the Porch’ to be our Friday Poem this week for its deceptive simplicity, and its restless, wistful, questioning tone. It speaks of loss, and does so with such control that we are quite beguiled by it. Lovely.
Evening on the Porch
The rocking chair is rocking,
though no one sits in it
on this windless evening,
and yet this rocking, rocking,
back and forth as if
a soul could somehow wish
to be here once again,
on long warm evenings
with a tall glass of whiskey,
reading and dozing off,
or gazing longingly
at the orange-pink sunset
vanishing behind the trees,
the last ripe mango
dropping into darkness—
would they, if they could,
return to this ruined porch,
just for one last look,
at evening in Key West?
