Almanac Poetry: Trapped
Trapped, oil on paper mounted on cardboard, by Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), date unknown. Buffalo Bill Centre of the West, Cody, Wyoming. [Wikimedia Commons.]
Trapped
Isn’t it terrible
when, at a party,
you’re introduced by a friend
to someone vaguely familiar
and you feel compelled to like the person
because of the introducer,
yet all through the evening
you’re uneasy when that person’s around,
then, just before you leave,
the realisation’s suddenly clear
that they’re someone from your distant past
who you loathed at first sight
and, more than this,
the feeling was reciprocal?
Read more from Kevin Densley HERE
Kevin Densley’s latest poetry collection, Please Feed the Macaws…I’m Feeling Too Indolent, is available HERE
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Kevin Densley is a graduate of both Deakin University and The University of Melbourne. He has taught writing and literature in numerous Victorian universities and TAFES. He is a poet and writer-in-general. His sixth book-length poetry collection, Isle Full of Noises, was published in early 2026 by Ginninderra Press. He is also the co-author of ten play collections for young people, as well as a multi Green Room Award nominated play, Last Chance Gas, published by Currency Press. Other writing includes screenplays for educational films.
You’ve a great way of describing what we’ve all been through with such evocative language Kevin. Well done.
Thanks for your response, Barry. I’m pleased you found the poem effective.