Swimming Lessons by Allison McVety It rained the whole fortnight, so my father got it into his head to teach me something useful, like how to stretch my body out to crawl from doggy paddle, how to cleave then palm the water, how to skim, how to drive from the shoulder, the chest, the diaphragm, how to breathe, regular, on the rim of each third … Continue reading Final Wave of Holiday Poems

24 rue Carnot by Martin Malone This house lolls in a droiling back street. The army-issue blanket of working week sleep is rolled aside for a thousand-egg omelette that duvets dreams of fish and strange meetings. In this bed I drive to Lagrasse to chat to a long dead friend in some doorway; him blue-eyed and smiling, while the mistral shifts the dust around our … Continue reading New Wave of Poems

Django Fontina by Rebecca Perry I saw rain in Galilee. I saw rain in Lauterbrunnen. In the Black Forest I saw apple-sized hailstones smash through the windscreens of abandoned cars. In Egypt, from a hot air balloon, I saw a funeral – a body in a white sheet lowered into the sand. In Hong Kong, a man covered in bees. In Italy, the international space … Continue reading Another Wave of Holiday Poems

Manifesto for the First Day of British Summer Time by Anna Kisby Open up like a nest-bird for cherry ice-cream. Wear a pink moustache. Make love to an ant. Dismay at the smudge it becomes. Remember the tree-house. Sweep it of muck. Arrange leaves in size order; weight each one with a squirrel dropping. This is your life – concentrate. Startle at a mower. Ride … Continue reading First Wave of Holiday Poems