No Easy Answer
Raymond Chandler’s having a drink in his LA apartment.
Light borrowed from an Edward Hopper painting;
near-harsh reading lamp beacons
on his desk where a trilby makes a salute
to half-eaten shadows.
Sitting on a stiff-backed chair is my dad.
He has never read a Chandler novel.
There is no connection.
Dad keeps saying, ‘Ray.’
Chandler’s at ease with him.
They are both dead: I’ll give you that.
Tom Kelly is a Jarrow-born writer. He has had eleven books of poetry, short stories and a play published in as many years. His new collection This Small Patch has recently been published by Red Squirrel Press. Website: www.tomkelly.org.uk