Absence

The town lies baked in dust and dejection;

today belongs to the ant masters

of the chemical trail. I walk,

feeling as though I’ve lost someone

and not knowing where to find them.

An ugly harmless lizard lies by a fence,

tongue flickering in blue primordial patience

while a dog barks its warning to an empty house.

Sleep will run from me again tonight,

but the barking will go on and on.

S.C. Flynn was born in a small town in Australia of Irish origin and now lives in Dublin. His collection The Colour of
Extinction (Renard Press, October 2024) was The Observer Poetry Book of the Month. An Ocean Called Hope (Downingfield Press, May 2025) is forthcoming. His poetry has been published in more than a hundred
magazines around the world. He has been highly commended in the Erbacce Prize and nominated for Best of the Net. He has very recently given readings at the Waterford Gallery of Art, Ardgillan Castle and Notre Dame University.