Questions for the Chair by Sandra Renew

Sandra Renew reads her poem 'Questions for the Chair' 

This poem appears in 34-37 Degrees South 2025 - An Anthology of Poetry from members of the South Coast Writers Centre. 

Fresh words brought to you by the South Coast Writers Centre

Transcript

questions for the chair by Sandra Renew

sitting sentinel on the porch

this empty chair has no words

speaks mute of loss

unexplained

on the verandah

whose seat, this empty chair?

a dead autocrat, his anointed successor?

or a grandfather in the kitchen

making coffee and sandwiches?

empty chair

interrogation interrupted

prisoners cried there, died there

questions keep coming

chair has no words for a stitch up

metal gymnasium seats in a row

orientation audience full

a big new year

one empty chair offers

space for a new friend

a whole story gone

chair waits with sparrows

for the next star gazer

no words required

just focus the telescope