Caught in the flux, memories shift again — each turns
an unmade bed. Words rearrange, meanings undone.
Image after image, lift each slide to the light—your eyes
closed in the glare, lips pressed to a smile. When was this?
Who’s in the background? No, I don’t remember. I can’t recall.
Lay it across the table—a postcard, two tickets, a hotel key. But
still I have questions: was it Marrakesh or Madrid where you spilt
wine down your dress, were starlings crossing in the evening air,
was it the muezzin or church bells that woke us in the field,
what ocean pushed against stones like a crowd come together
to say your name? ‘Love is all we have,’ you say (taking my hand).
‘We’ll be careful from now on—take notes, souvenirs,
lay a trail back to the woods.
……………………………………….‘No’ (I insist). This dream’s but half done.
I’m going to climb back in, eyes closed until every last word…
10 poems in 10 weeks – This is week 5
This piece was inspired by Sharon Van Etten’s beautiful song – Tarifa
Image … unmade bed | by Sean McMenemy
Also for Dverse the poets’ pub where Frank posed the prompt ‘Sleep’.
Peter Frankis writes 
Beautifully evocative. Love is all we have reminds me of Larkin’s Arundel Tomb and this new expression of the timeless truth.
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Thanks Cathy – Larkin’s poem is wonderful.
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Oh, if we could only sleep until the dream is done, as you say, “…every last word.” Lovely images, Peter.
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Might as well get every word of the dream. I liked how this question was phrased: “what ocean pushed against stones like a crowd come together
to say your name? “
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This is marvellous.. there are those dreams which I would love to bring back, loved the way you made it into travelling with the scenes from exotic places.
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I love this, Peter! I love the flow of it, the lazy feel of the language ‘caught in the flux’, the lines ‘each turns / an unmade bed. Words rearrange, meanings undone’.The unravelling of memories in the third stanza is vivid, like cinematic flashbacks, and that last line is superb!
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Thanks Kim, so glad you liked it.
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It seems you have been given access to travel , two tickets and a room key. A bed unmade let your dream take flight.
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I love Sharon Van Etten. You remind me to listen to her, it’s been a while. And this poem is wonderful, holding the slide up to the light and “what ocean pushed against stones like a crowd come together
to say your name?” among other great lines.
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Thanks – the line ‘I can’t remember…’ In her song was the kernel for this piece. Glad you liked it.
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