17 small acts of ending
an ambulance stuck in traffic
the picturesque potential of fallen barns
library books scattered to charity shops
a footpath stopped up or overgrown
widening gaps between starlings
a vodka bottle dumped in crocuses
a Mini twice the size it used to be
Live Love Laugh framed on the walls of second homes
a slight reduction in the sparrows’ chatter
a grubbed-up hedge
a sewage spill a blue-green bloom
sofas thrown out from flooded rooms
boats their scary smallness
a shuttered chip shop a fished-out sea
conversations buried under duvets of distrust
times I kept quiet when the words broke down
a flag waved in someone else’s face
Julian Dobson lives in Sheffield and has been published in print and online journals including The Rialto, Acumen, Shearsman and Ink Sweat & Tears.