Riyadh Autumn

After heat’s annual hiatus
(Nature lying doggo,
Months minus a single cloud)

There comes this quiet defiance
In the slant of light,
A sudden crispness to each echo

And shout. Summer’s embargo
Lifted, the air’s loaded with age-old
Imports, weightless cargo:

Fleeting silver and gold,
Exotic hints of cold
This early evening in late October –

Desert now slightly less so,
Its grim perimeter
Touched by a world elsewhere



Martin Bennett | Mudlark No. 12
Contents | Aubade: London N.W.1.