Moorings An ancient tub, long lost to shoaling grounds, nestles in the ooze by a peeling barge, ropes slack to the task of tethering them to an indifferent jetty. Each turn of the tide floats the possibility of tugging at knots, splintering restraint, waking the devil in the engine room and sailing away, prow-high, sea-skimmed, … Continue reading Three poems by Stephen Elves
Author: And Other Poems
‘The People We Meet in Dreams’ by Miranda Yates
The People We Meet In Dreams The man from the town centre post office bangs your door in a ruby cape mouthing the whereabouts of The Prowler, and then is gone, down to the shudder of the village stream, where they are all scattered on the brink of a public hanging. Not that you are … Continue reading ‘The People We Meet in Dreams’ by Miranda Yates
A poem by Michaela Ridgway
This year for Katy and her son January will hold the door open for you and you’ll carry him in, under an oak moon; a blue garnet in his small, clenched fist will throw light into that forest of lengthening days. In February, the snows will melt and freeze, form pearls on its branches: … Continue reading A poem by Michaela Ridgway
Three poems by Dan O’Brien
The War Reporter Paul Watson Lost His Camera Vacationing in Cape Town, longing to purge yourself with Stellenbosch and lobster. Waves lash the scapular limestone. Unshouldering your camera on your molt of clothes you dip into the bay while it sways till you might let yourself get carried away. Onshore a baboon. A dog’s … Continue reading Three poems by Dan O’Brien
Three poems by Carrie Etter
Three poems from Imagined Sons A Birthmother’s Catechism (September 11, 1986) What is the anniversary of loss? A national day of mourning Really now, what is the anniversary of loss? My mother and I watch TV well past her usual bedtime What is the anniversary of loss? Where the swan’s nest had been, … Continue reading Three poems by Carrie Etter
Three poems by John Greening
Three poems from Iceland Requiem Author's note: First published in Iceland Spar (Shoestring Press, 2008), this sequence is at the heart of a collection about my father’s time as a wireless operator in Akureyri during WW2, just after he had met my mother back in Kew. I Requiem aeternam A world of … Continue reading Three poems by John Greening
Lesley Martin
Three Churches I. Augustinian Priory St Augustine, patron saint of brewers, printers and theologians, is depicted holding a quill, poised to write, in a stained glass window overlooking the shrine of St Jude, patron saint of desperate cases and lost causes. To light candle insert coins into slot and press button on candle … Continue reading Lesley Martin
‘Birdsmith’ by Judi Sutherland
Birdsmith I had to make a false leg for the toucan from a strong brass spring, to take the shock of landing, the first and fourth toes turned backwards for grip. I saw from the way the bird regarded me, beak cocked to one side, that it was grateful. My next project a throat-pouch for … Continue reading ‘Birdsmith’ by Judi Sutherland
Two poems by Jane Commane
Seven Horse Secrets The horse’s heart is a grand mansion of piston-firing chambers. A horse sees a world blurred in the two-tone flourish of the photo finish. Look into the amber planet of a horse’s eye and a refracted universe forms there. Horses turn the turf of an ever-moving, never-quite-touched earth beneath their hooves. … Continue reading Two poems by Jane Commane
Two poems by Stephen Boyce
Marking the Place The red route of the A5 lies across the pages of our life like a silk ribbon marking the place: Betws, honeymoon rained off; Wrexham snowed in, out of work, in love, you fixing the roof at Llanarmon; Bridgnorth, changing nappies in a lay-by; the chiropractor cracking bones in Shrewsbury. … Continue reading Two poems by Stephen Boyce
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