The Paddock Review

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A Poem by Matthew J. Friday

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The Pumpkin Field

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Being just a poor British boy grown

where London’s roots defile Saxon towns,

common woods and meadows, I know little

about agriculture beyond the shelves

and tin cans of childhood. So when I see

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the field of pumpkins on the edge of I-5 North

the bulbous fruit strung out like orange pearls

in finely tuned rows, small hard heads lolled

on the dry soil, I am amazed. That so much 

can be gained from these ignorant seeds.

This poem is from the chapbook The Residents (Finishing Line Press), and can be found at https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/the-residents-by-matthew-j-friday/

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The Residents begins with the author’s arrival at the height of the COVID pandemic and explores his new life as a US resident. The poems reflect on this new journey and study what being a resident means for other people, flora and fauna. While Oregon’s inhabitants and landscape form the basis of many poems, others explore residency in a wider sense, crossing borders near and far away.

Matthew James Friday is a British born writer and teacher. He has an MA in Creative Writing from Goldsmith College, University of London. He has had many poems published in US and international journals from all corners of the world. He has published numerous micro-chapbooks with the Origami Poems Project (US). Matthew is a Pushcart Prize nominated poet.  The Residents is his first chapbook. More of his writing can be found at: http://matthewfriday.weebly.com

Matthew James Friday