Adam Aitken was born in London, spent his early childhood in Thailand and Malaysia, then settled in Sydney. He co-edited Contemporary Asian Australian Poets in 2013. His memoir One Hundred Letters Home (2016) was listed for the ALS Gold Medal. Archipelago (2018) was shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry and the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. He received the Patrick White Award in 2021. His latest book is Revenants (2022).
The Eviction
Coming home from work, I felt its weight,the shadow of their mezuzah, the imprintwhere the paint was brighter, anda faint turmeric tingeof a woman who lived here,of the grandmother’s hand, imprintson the door she said was hers,this place, this door. Its pricebeyond the fading recompense of lyricor payback elegies of memory,or money-is-a-kind-of-poetry capital.Her size and weight,her door…