The Kaleidoscope My Big Brother Gave Me It created geometric processions out of rooms: made a pair of butterflies rise from a fireside chair, caused a ball of wool to fan and become a guelder-rose, a cylinder of gas to spoke into a four-pronged star, eight eyes to glisten from a hot-plate ringed with chrome. … Continue reading ‘The Kaleidoscope My Big Brother Gave Me’ by Ann Leahy
Category: Poetry
‘Aquarius’ by Miranda Peake
All day we lived with the thought of you, celeriac remoulade and Boeuf Bourguignon covered our plates as we lifted two glasses of sun and toasted your name. Later we wandered down Tottenham Court Road, stopping for love seats and dining room chairs. We sat on sofas and questioned the depth of shelves. We … Continue reading ‘Aquarius’ by Miranda Peake
‘His Heart’ by Raymond Antrobus
His Heart turned against him in a chicken shop. He said my heart is falling out as he slipped into dreams of his mother in Jamaica. He came through in hospital, longing for the woman, dead twenty years. His son visits and they spend half an hour holding hands. There is a needle in his … Continue reading ‘His Heart’ by Raymond Antrobus
‘The remembering business’ by Rishi Dastidar
The remembering business Today a truth was decided, | | Like marching ghosts, we rip seven centuries ago, that | | pages out of ourselves to tell you bread and wine could be | … Continue reading ‘The remembering business’ by Rishi Dastidar
‘Chasing Rainbows’ by Jill Abram
Chasing Rainbows I am trekking in the arid centre where willy willies lift terracotta dust onto my skin to stick by sweat kilned by sun until I am claybound I used to get stuck in … Continue reading ‘Chasing Rainbows’ by Jill Abram
‘The Tale of Wilbur’s Victorian Sewage Pumps’ by Anita Pati
The Tale of Wilbur’s Victorian Sewage Pumps The two-barrelled Prince Consort engine designed by a colonel named St John, was fantasised fondly in Hitchin. Colonel St John had pondered how sewage, to fuel one onward, like money, should never be squandered. Conceived over parlour-time Horlicks, cream-splashed Imperial promise twirled ostrich eggs, rare hot-house relics. And … Continue reading ‘The Tale of Wilbur’s Victorian Sewage Pumps’ by Anita Pati
‘And What We Know About Time’ by Tania Hershman
When it failed to alarm, my father took the clock apart. Laid it all out on the kitchen table. While the dog dreamed and snored, we watched him clean every piece, then, with breaths held, attempt reassembly. It worked perfectly for the next ten years, which was odd, given the sixteen horological components my … Continue reading ‘And What We Know About Time’ by Tania Hershman
‘Citizenship Ceremony’ by Caroline Smith
Citizenship Ceremony Every few months a timetable clash means the Citizenship Ceremony and the asylum surgery converge. From outside the council chamber, as each new citizen is made, we can hear the patter of applause. It is rain to parched, thirsty soil – every head turns and lifts towards the sound. (from The … Continue reading ‘Citizenship Ceremony’ by Caroline Smith
‘On the Fence’ by Sharon Black
On the Fence The view’s not bad. Between the patchwork of prejudice and the roll of logic, on a clear day you can see right across to the Cairngorms, rising like indignation in the distance. No need for reason this high up. The grass is green whichever way you look. Sometimes I amuse myself with … Continue reading ‘On the Fence’ by Sharon Black
Two poems by Fiona Moore
In our Hearts By the old hospital the mini-cab drivers still say, everyone says, though there’s no hospital now except in the mind, only a high dark blue hoarding with Homes and Communities Agency stencilled in white, along with A new heart for East Greenwich. The demolition’s long finished and the vast space is closed … Continue reading Two poems by Fiona Moore
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