Suburbia Arcadia by Eve Chancellor

Suburbia Arcadia

you meet me off the plane at LAX                                          

pick me up in your Prius and drive me straight

to your parents’ house in Valencia     with your mother’s

army of succulents     we eat vanilla ice-cream

drape our limbs across the couch     like lilies

your father invites me outside to see his tortoises

slow and lonesome     ambling across the sunburnt lawn

sombre as war veterans     carrying their crested armour

on their backs     I have never seen a man so proud

as your father     the way he spoke to his tortoises softly

the way I imagine God must answer his children

don’t we all bear our burdens on aching shoulders?

how wonderful it is to be fascinated by anything

what a privilege it is to be in this moment     living

Eve Chancellor is an English Teacher in Manchester and Forward Prize nominated poet. Her poetry is published online and in multiple literary magazines, including: Atrium, Acropolis Journal, Dust and Ink, Sweat and Tears. Her short stories are featured on East of the Web.