Holmes in Florence ‘…a week later I found myself in Florence, with the certainty that no one in the world knew what had become of me.’ (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Empty House) When I came to Florence it was morning. I stumbled through the hills and lay down on the hard … Continue reading Two poems by Clarissa Aykroyd
Author: And Other Poems
Three poems by Matthew Stewart
Home comforts Until you’ve lived in a country full of kitchens full of saucepans that slowly creak to the boil, a kettle won’t seem to whistle like the owner of a loose dog calling it back, calling it home. Twenty years apart With a synchronised swivelling of necks and a coughed silence, … Continue reading Three poems by Matthew Stewart
Two poems by Kate Noakes
Salomé in the mirror I find myself calling for your head on a brass platter from Bernese the kind I can make into a table I smile I smile manic delighted There will be no church or mosaic shrine on the spot where this happens I smile I smile manic … Continue reading Two poems by Kate Noakes
‘Keep Digging’ by David Atkinson
We Irish have a reputation for being handy with a spade, digging potatoes and turf; and when the potatoes stopped growing, no matter how much we dug, we planted our children in the ground. When we grew tired of planting our children we left for England, and when we arrived they gave us a spade … Continue reading ‘Keep Digging’ by David Atkinson
‘Beyond the Pale’ by Ann Leahy
Beyond the Pale (in West Cork) I commit a minor act of appropriation - pick plants whose names I don’t know from the ditches to try and make my own of the unfamiliar: the rise ahead in the road the peak of Miskish behind me the arthritic finger of Coulagh bay before me. In my … Continue reading ‘Beyond the Pale’ by Ann Leahy
‘Songs of the the Sea’ by Eleanor Hooker
Songs of the Sea At Kilmore town ancient carols are sung, legend says the sea will drown their town. Casting stones into the sea is wrong, storm-crested waves drag silent sail down. Legend says the sea will drown their town, a silver coin beneath the mast brings luck. Storm crested waves drag silent sail down, … Continue reading ‘Songs of the the Sea’ by Eleanor Hooker
‘Dair Ghaelach (Irish Oak)’ by Carol Caffrey
The heft and reach of him through mountain bog and field earthed bark to leaf-lit canopy true north. (i.m. Seamus Heaney.) (previously published in Shrewsbury Stanza's Anthology 2015) Carol Caffrey is an Irish writer and actor who lives in Shropshire with her husband and two grown-up children. A former teacher and full-time mother, her work … Continue reading ‘Dair Ghaelach (Irish Oak)’ by Carol Caffrey
‘Aisling’ by Adam Wyeth
Beautiful girl with a broken harp who plays on the side of the street through wind and rain, her open case catching coins that flicker as leaves on a lake. Her plaintive notes which float like pleas then flee into a whooshing diaspora of rush- hour traffic as she plinks and plucks more … Continue reading ‘Aisling’ by Adam Wyeth
‘Comhrá na Tríonóide’ (Trinity Colloquy) by David Butler
Comhrá na Tríonóide Is mé ar seachrán san coláiste ar maidin do bhaineas ana-thaitneamh as mo dhíchuimhne nuair a thugas faoi deara go rabhas ag caint liom féin fad is ag falróid a bhí mé. Trí cheist le freagairt dá bhrí sin: Cé bhí ag caint? Cé bhí ag éisteacht? agus in ainm … Continue reading ‘Comhrá na Tríonóide’ (Trinity Colloquy) by David Butler
‘Skinny Dipping’ by Jean O’Brien
I’m Irish, we keep our clothes on most of the time. We perform contorted dances on beaches in Cork, or Donegal; undressing under not-yet-wet-towels. Worried that any gap might expose us, lay some body-part bare. It was the Immaculate Conception that did it, if Mary could conceive a child without removing her knickers, then by … Continue reading ‘Skinny Dipping’ by Jean O’Brien
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