The Dancers on Graves gather at dawn, 21st June, by the large yew; limber up, leaning on the back ends of monuments and tombs; adjust bandeaux and legwarmers; yodel a little, do scales to loosen the chi. The relevant areas are corralled with ribbon, beginning with John Henry Frayn, father of three, down to … Continue reading Three poems by Geraldine Clarkson
Author: And Other Poems
Poem in translation by Conor Kelly
The Point of Flame All his long life he loved to read by candle light. He often passed his hand through flame to show himself he was alive. He was alive. Now, since he died, he lies beside a candle flame but hides his hands. (Originally published at The Honest Ulsterman. Pointe de flamme by … Continue reading Poem in translation by Conor Kelly
Three poems by Marion McCready
Degas’ The Tub for Vicki Feaver It’s the way she lies abandoned, Jezebel, to her liquid bronze bath; hair dripping over the lip of the tub, as if recovering from a marathon or from giving birth. Like the post-natal bath I had in the shock-white hospital – blood streaking the … Continue reading Three poems by Marion McCready
‘A Circular Life’ by David Lukens
A Circular Life “Don't forget, I was brought up an heiress,” she said, massaging the dog's arse with the palm of the hand that would soon be cutting cake. “He's constipated, poor lamb.” She gave another loosening stroke. The dog wheezed through flattened snout and winked at me. “More cake?” “Not me, I'm full,” I … Continue reading ‘A Circular Life’ by David Lukens
‘March’ by Boris Pasternak translated by Sasha Dugdale
March The sun has broken a sudden sweat And the ditch gushes febrile, unstaunched. Spring, like the stocky dairymaid, Holds in its hands the foaming warmth. How wan the snow; it has the green sickness Thin blue twigs are its feeble veins But life comes steaming from the cowshed And the pitchfork plumps … Continue reading ‘March’ by Boris Pasternak translated by Sasha Dugdale
Three poems by Maria Taylor
Tracing Orion You were already fully grown and frolicking with lovers under the stars, around the time when I used my rough book to trace constellations at night. I’d recite names like magic spells: Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka. The hunter’s body in space impossible to touch. You in the middle of nowhere fumbling with straps in … Continue reading Three poems by Maria Taylor
‘How I Abandoned My Body To His Keeping’ by Kim Moore
What happened sits in my heart like a stone. You told me I’d be writing about it all my life, when I asked how to stop saying these things to the moon. I told you how writing it makes the dark lift and then settle again like a flock of birds. You said … Continue reading ‘How I Abandoned My Body To His Keeping’ by Kim Moore
Three poems by Carrie Etter
Conception There was a canoe missing an oar. There was a stretch of pristine shore. Colour broke into sound, one mindless gasp predicated on so much prior consciousness. Daughter of my daughter yet to be— a glint on a distant wave, a window without a wall— O hovering cab, O sureshot marble— (previously published in … Continue reading Three poems by Carrie Etter
Two poems by Richie McCaffery
Legend The cricket club is a cow-field away from our house, yet local lore says a cricket ball knocked so far for six in the 1950s smashed one of our bay windows. I can’t say if the ball was returned, if it even crossed the players’ minds that evening in the pub, of someone … Continue reading Two poems by Richie McCaffery
Three poems by Carole Bromley
Whistling on the in breath Your forte. Carols, music hall tunes, even the odd aria. A choir of children dressed in red with white ruffs sings in Latin this morning till the stained glass shivers but it's your whistling I hear, sound track of my childhood. We brought you with us once, you fiddled … Continue reading Three poems by Carole Bromley
andotherpoems.com 