I

The moon rises benevolent.
It has been dark for an hour
now and he sleeps after all
that has been said and not
done. Accusations hurled
like an axe across the room.
How she raged, jabbing
her grievances home
one by one until he let fall,
unwittingly, into the still
centre of their storm,
the truth of how he saw
himself and them.

II

The sun is up, the teapot
is warm and as she pours
his tea she fancies there is
a gleam of malice in his eyes.
But is it for what she said
or what she heard?

Debbie Robson

 

Listen to Debbie reading ‘The Moon and the Teapot’ (0:48)

 

Debbie Robson has been writing poetry since the 1990s. She has performed some of her poems on radio, at Sydney poetry events, in the Blue Mountains and more recently as part of the Women of Words project in Newcastle. She has also been privileged to have one of her long poems performed by an actor as part of the Southern Highlands Art Festival.

© 2020, text and audio