Two extracts from At the Time of Partition 17 And Where? Pakistan! the crowd roared. Pakistan Zindabad! Long live Pakistan! This country – her country. A nation in its instability, one that could change lives with the suddenness of a blow to the head. And Jinnah – his photograph was everywhere, … Continue reading Two poems by Moniza Alvi
Author: And Other Poems
Four poems by Martin Figura
Four poems from Arthur Home Arthur lies warm in his soft feather bed muffled beneath his blue eiderdown, the night doesn’t frighten him, one little bit. He reaches in the dark for twenty gold ships that sail under stars to a faraway land marked with a cross his mother has stitched. Each bright … Continue reading Four poems by Martin Figura
‘The Oldest Paperboy in the World and Me’ by Ian McMillan
The Oldest Paperboy in the World and Me Our paths cross in the tight dark And his sack reflects the streetlight And he nods and I nod And his sack is emptier than the past And his sack is emptier than the future And his sack is all there is. Our paths diverge in the … Continue reading ‘The Oldest Paperboy in the World and Me’ by Ian McMillan
‘Airfix’ by Jacqui Rowe
Airfix Industrious as ever, my father built the revolution on our dining table, laid out its components on their sprue, staked with the pain of detail painted before sticking to the paper rules his left brain clung to like the map of a machine. This was not work. That dwelt among the coining presses and … Continue reading ‘Airfix’ by Jacqui Rowe
‘The Nudist Beach’ by Dorothy Lehane
The Nudist Beach What we musn’t ignore, says Dad, are the difficulties and responsibilities of the Penis. We mustn’t ignore that. Mum looks up from the Catholic Times, tuts, goes back. I look out toward France; the hazy line of sailing boats, stocky, athletic calves dividing the horizon. The old men want me to see … Continue reading ‘The Nudist Beach’ by Dorothy Lehane
‘When I Was A Boy’ by Liz Berry
I was a boy every week-day afternoon the year I was seven. Hitched my school skirt into shorts, flattened my hair with a black ballet band, wore my brother’s elasticated tie. I had many different names: sometimes Paul or Steven (boy next door), sometimes Dean (rough) or Jean Paul (exotic), here on exchange. I … Continue reading ‘When I Was A Boy’ by Liz Berry
A poem by Geraldine Green
Cracked ice Muffled chink of milk bottles handled by the milkman's barely unfrozen fingers when I was younger you gave me a hard rock in a soft place the space between my outspread palms mouth of a closing door opening wider sound of ice in the river my face when I look at myself … Continue reading A poem by Geraldine Green
‘For the Unkept House’ by Vona Groarke
For the Unkept House Fill the bucket with water. Fill the coffin with stones. There’s a full moon over the river and there’s no going home. Make a well in the water. Make a house in the dark. There’s a full moon over the meadow and there’s no going back. Sweep the stars from the … Continue reading ‘For the Unkept House’ by Vona Groarke
A poem by Jonathan Davidson
Atrocity To die in a ditch or on a bombed-out Bus on the way to a market You’ll never reach. To have it all ended that easily, Cameras coming afterwards, Expressions of non-joy. You will never inhabit old age, friend. You will never sit in a quiet square Towards evening, hearing … Continue reading A poem by Jonathan Davidson
‘Kissing’ by Cristina Navazo-Eguía Newton
Kissing Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is more delightful than wine. Song of Songs, 1:2 Love, I’ve learned people do not kiss in Burma. There those that have been seen to kiss are liable to come under suspicion and surveillance leading to house-arrest or long terms in … Continue reading ‘Kissing’ by Cristina Navazo-Eguía Newton
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