Sam Rye

Rag and Bone

Having filled the ships all night with oil
my father comes home to sleep

one pillow, he dreams the broken English
he spoke out on the berth in the twilight
to the boatmen from China
huddling, smoking, under a crust of stars

as he sleeps
we know not to disturb him
satisfied in his rest
partly in our hands

beneath a late moon, until the rag and bone
man, so steady in his round
drives through the block at noon
collecting our unwanted things with his voice

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Sam Rye is a 27-year-old poet and editor from the North East of England, now residing in Manchester, where he is studying a MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature at The University of Manchester. His poetry has previously been published or is forthcoming in Butcher’s Dog, Dodging the Rain and Prole.