Vacancy
The chair – beige linen, wingback,
a little light wear where the head rests
and along the arms – sits next to the unmade
bed – rumpled white sheets, cream wool
blanket with a charcoal double stripe.
The lamp – switched on, small, round, bright
orange glass shade – glows on the desk
in the corner where there is another chair – oak,
straight-backed, ladder-backed, pushed in.
The morning sunlight slanting through
the open French windows is touching
all of this but especially highlighting
the filmy white curtains, the thin layer
of dust on the polished floorboards.
Outside, the climber scaling the balcony railings
is mostly thin, leggy stalks now, having lost
almost all its leaves. The open door,
barely visible to one side, is in fact
just the suggestion of an exit.
Claire Orchard
Claire Orchard was born in Wainuiomata, grew up in the Hutt Valley and now lives in Wellington where she completed an MA in Creative Writing at the IIML in 2013. Her first book of poems, Cold Water Cure, was published by VUP in 2016.