The worn, russet couch opens its maw

and swallows me whole. With a cool embrace,
the scent of old leather finds a chink in my armour.
A vision of you sneaks in. Tanned legs barely covered 
by denim cut-offs wake buttermilk thoughts
of caramel ice and sunshine.
 
Cicada-song jolts sleep from the room. I wake
to twilight's warm, mottled hues. 
Time
        moves
                   slowly, 
                              my skin breathes out. 
Freshly-cut lawn flavours scant breeze 
creeping past the fly screen to tickle my mind. 
In the depths of the couch, my sleeping back 
has unwittingly found your old sketchbook.
 
Lazy river Sundays seep from pages as dry as memories. 
Moments and scenes captured in charcoal-scratched stasis,
your hand always as sure as your eye. A pressed-flower fallen
from our Red River Gum lies caught between pages. 
I slam the book shut and it slides away.
You would have smiled to see 
how deeply the paper cut.

Ryan Stone

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