An Artifice How do I love thee? Let me count the ways - E. B. Browning I' benedico il loco e 'l tempo et l'ora - Petrarch How can I stop myself from loving you? How many ways can I deny the pleasure? Could I delete each … Continue reading ‘An Artifice’ by J. A. Sutherland
Author: And Other Poems
Excerpt from ‘Lune’ by Sarah Hymas
Lune (excerpt) Two views on intimacy: every cloud is wet; the ocean rains dead things. And still some of us can’t see even when we’ve plunged under the surface. Romance is when one has learnt to disappear – like phosphorous in still waters, or oxygen from the deep. This isn’t Hollywood. We can only guess … Continue reading Excerpt from ‘Lune’ by Sarah Hymas
‘On a carrier pigeon found dead in a chimney’ by Samuel Tongue
On a carrier pigeon found dead in a chimney Time has done its dissections, spread the jigsaw on the kitchen table. Some wing bones, hollow radius and carpus, a fretwork of struts and trusses. Interlocking ribs around an unsnapped wishbone. An empty skull, chalky with age, and a tiny red capsule concealing a cigarette-paper of … Continue reading ‘On a carrier pigeon found dead in a chimney’ by Samuel Tongue
‘The poet in Samos’ by Richard Gwyn
The poet in Samos Here are the things you left behind: an old bus ticket to a place with an illegible name, a stack of government files from distinct regimes, a pile of rocks, a copy of Cavafy, well-thumbed. I don’t know how many meals you ate here, by the seaward window. I don’t know … Continue reading ‘The poet in Samos’ by Richard Gwyn
‘The War Reporter Paul Watson and the Room across the Hall’ by Dan O’Brien
The War Reporter Paul Watson and the Room across the Hall It’s like they’re still in college. Mattresses on the floor. Empty soda bottles filled with water. Chicken bones and French fry stubs in clamshell cardboard. Toilet rolls along electric radiators. One laptop like a fire in the cave mouth at night. Cords suckling at … Continue reading ‘The War Reporter Paul Watson and the Room across the Hall’ by Dan O’Brien
‘Tuning Fork’ by Ruby Robinson
Tuning Fork Lifting the lid, you’d tell me: once the fork is struck, the initial blade of overtones quieten to one note composed of vibrations undetectable by the human eye, almost silent to the ear. I always loved the bit about the shattered tooth, the thrill when you lifted the steel close to my cheek … Continue reading ‘Tuning Fork’ by Ruby Robinson
Two poems by Rebecca Gethin
Renny - 1961 Even then, I knew my performance as a primrose wouldn’t impress. But as soon as the bell clanged we played wild animals. We’d be at it on the floor, some crawling on all fours, others writhing, all of us snarling or growling. I guessed he’d notice my sabre-tooth-tiger impression: I knew how … Continue reading Two poems by Rebecca Gethin
Two poems by Natalie Shaw
How to tell your son he has no friends You will get the first bit wrong: he won’t be able to meet your eye. In the dark, you can hold his hand and stroke his hair. Forget the things you said this morning. Forget the things you said this morning. Take him to the pool … Continue reading Two poems by Natalie Shaw
‘Still’ by Marie Naughton
Still On the third day I woke to his weary face, watching from an armchair by the hospital bed. You know how dreams have boldness that melts to uncertainty, the minute you put words to them? I blurted my epiphany –– we’ve fallen through a gap in the language –– as if that was that, … Continue reading ‘Still’ by Marie Naughton
‘L’Esprit de l’Escalier’ by Fiona Larkin
L'Esprit de l'Escalier I'm virtually bilingual. My adopted tongue's l'esprit de l'escalier, belated repartee. My adopted tongue's effortlessly en retard, belated repartee spins a fluent ghost. Effortlessly en retard, my next riposte's a wraith, another fluent ghost, she whispers down the hall. My next riposte's a wraith, she twirls around the newel, she whispers down … Continue reading ‘L’Esprit de l’Escalier’ by Fiona Larkin
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