Cusp It was taken by James that first summer. The angle’s pretty low but you can still see the river: that thin dark crack through the background. We’re both sat cross-legged - me knotting grass, you saluting the sun - our knees almost touch like God’s hand and Adam’s… I use it as a … Continue reading ‘Cusp’ by David O’Hanlon
Author: And Other Poems
‘Don’t Mention the Children’ by Michael Rosen
Don't mention the children. Israel bans radio advert listing names of children killed in Gaza (Guardian 24.07.14) Don't name the dead children. The people must not know the names of the dead children. The names of the children must be hidden. The children must be nameless. The children must leave this world having no names. … Continue reading ‘Don’t Mention the Children’ by Michael Rosen
Two poems by William Bedford
Two poems i.m. Florence Winifred Bedford 20.10.1915 – 09.09.2008 Early Arrival She came a mite early by the calendar, fuelling gossip and glee in spiteful eyes, an autumn surprise for court fourteen in rack-rent Brightside’s cuts and ginnels. The landlord thrived on stolen lives. But the horses she saw pulled carts of flowers, and … Continue reading Two poems by William Bedford
Two poems by Brett Evans
Scarecrow Reaping nothing from what's been sown, arms outstretched, forsaken, he wears his unkempt crown; king of the hand-me-down. Dressed forever in the same tattered rags that suck the wind through or hang from his frame with the weight of the morning's rain, he sways; a metronome to an orchestra of gale and sleet. … Continue reading Two poems by Brett Evans
Two poems by Amy McCauley
Avocado It’s the most confidential fruit, though it may not be a fruit at all. This is the source of its delicious androgyny. It will part with itself in ways we can’t. The exterior self and interior self are compatible. It behaves privately and makes a rich oil. When the time comes it loosens, … Continue reading Two poems by Amy McCauley
Three poems by Lesley Quayle
December 2010 He’d been clearing snow from the path. Others, younger, grunting curses, smashed ice thick as his wrist with car-jacks and crow-bar, their breath draped over the air like gauze. I’d waved through a window feathered by frost, glad to be inside with the stove and hot, sweet tea, content to watch an … Continue reading Three poems by Lesley Quayle
‘Yellow Man’ by Dan Stathers
Yellow Man The last time I saw you out of bed you were searching for fossils, two hundred million years of them - older than the stone they were found in. We were half the sum of each other, the weight of your footprints lessening as bones began to surface and the distance grew in … Continue reading ‘Yellow Man’ by Dan Stathers
Two poems by Claire Walker
Animal Guess Who It makes the car journey shorter. My daughter picks, I ask the questions and she fills in the gaps. I discover they run fast, have soft fur, they look friendly, they don't bite. I guess, her strawberry curls tumble over her smile as she nods. My turn. I think of parrots … Continue reading Two poems by Claire Walker
Two poems by Stav Poleg
Birth Again I was dreaming, but it wasn’t just me. There were all the creatures, incognito, the sky and sea unseparated, and the skilfully miscast protagonists, running towards or away from each other. You ask who I was? I wasn’t him, or her, or the one who tricked her into it, using consonants and vowels. … Continue reading Two poems by Stav Poleg
Three poems by Gregory Leadbetter
Masts The air is not itself today: it can no longer rest. The last free molecule has just been put to use. Our alpha-waves are butterfly-brained. Sleep, in any normal sense, has not been possible here for months. I carry an egg for safety now. I came too close the other day: it cooked … Continue reading Three poems by Gregory Leadbetter
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