Gerry Jacobson

I Enter the Hall

and suddenly there are tears in my eyes. The interiors hang on the wall; they’re circular (tondos), a metre or so in diameter. Interiors of a weatherboard house with pictures on the wall, maybe a small table, a chair or two, a vase of flowers. Why am I nostalgic for these interiors? For peace and domesticity, for space and freedom, out of my cluttered past. I feel incoherent, inarticulate, confronted, blessed.

a chair
ornate, solitary…
upon it
a book lies open
just as he left it

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Author’s Note: “Interiors” are woodblocks painted in watercolour by Cressida Campbell at the Australian National Gallery, Canberra, 2021.

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About the Author

Gerry Jacobson lives in Canberra, Australia, and can be found writing tanka in its cafes.  He was a geologist in a past life and now celebrates reincarnation as a dancer.

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