Elephant Place The elephant housed in a wooden shed on Essex Street. The elephant that belonged to a Mr Wilkins. The elephant that in the early hours of Friday 17th of June, 1681, went up, with its tiny house, in flames. The elephant that you could come and look at: something extraordinary, a walking boulder, … Continue reading Two poems by Mark Granier
Tag: New poetry
Two poems by Julia Webb
Radio Nights I slide down deep beneath the covers output may be subject to further interruptions on the subject of snow turn dials by torchlight prop the heavy radio knobs for eyes, large square battery for heart on bent knees the nylon sheet crackles with static imagine Luxembourg as a party shape at the far … Continue reading Two poems by Julia Webb
Three poems by Suzannah Evans
Three poems from Near Future Summer with Robobees Those long evenings they giddied in the warm wealth of the oilseed rapefields humidity sensors estimating approaching storms * We picnicked on the lawn in July – shuttlecocks pinged distantly our scones and jam unbothered by the robobees their algorithms danced them between marigolds * Sometimes they … Continue reading Three poems by Suzannah Evans
Three poems by Ginny Saunders
Without Trying Although without trying we are in step in the sunken lane I walk with the green-veined butterfly and you are alone at my side. My friend flies ahead, explores wild honeysuckle but returns and circles us like a sheepdog sensing a stray. You stare at the ground. Without realising I’ve stopped remarking on … Continue reading Three poems by Ginny Saunders
Three poems by David Tait
Three poems from The AQI (smith|doorstop 2018) Smog I don’t have long to write so let me tell you that today’s smog is so thick that I’ve sat inside with a headache, wearing a face-mask next to an air purifier, that the recorded figures are double the hazardous limit, that these measurements are probably a … Continue reading Three poems by David Tait
Three poems by Nafeesa Hamid
Shades of woman She tells me I look like sex tonight. Really, you do, can’t you see it? And when I look down I do see; I see my breasts plump and hairless flung out of my sex dress like sleeping strays. I know this body is woman. This body is power; awake, alive. Paint … Continue reading Three poems by Nafeesa Hamid
Two poems by Holly Singlehurst
Witch Burning After Sylvia Plath ‘My ankles brighten. Brightness ascends my thighs. I am lost, I am lost, in the robes of all this light.’ – Sylvia Plath Her mouth makes the sound of a kettle whistle – high, sharp, spinning into air like smoke. I watch. Everyone around her watches. Her body peeling … Continue reading Two poems by Holly Singlehurst
Two poems by Mel Pettitt
Mermaid There was a time when I did not live like this. There was a time when I was the ocean’s whore. Now I am a hopeless man-pleaser, kissing those small rubbery toes, arching my back to let them stroke me. Some of them want to ride me around in the chlorinated water, buttocks up, … Continue reading Two poems by Mel Pettitt
‘Bloom’ by Harry Giles
Oh God, for you the feral beauty of punching a fascist in the face. For you the bruise as unfolding orgasm, the humiliation as scented whips. If when you watch you want to cum, that's OK, God: touch yourself! With your hand, God. Vow to learn to land that touch with the merciless precision … Continue reading ‘Bloom’ by Harry Giles
‘Rose Petal Jelly’ by Angela Readman
Rose Petal Jelly The apples drip slow as September dabbing sun to the rain, juice slips over the glazed lip of a jug. Outside, a resilience of roses hold in the wind. We feel petals open, jagged caruncles in the corners of our eyes. One nod and I shin a fence, grab a second flush … Continue reading ‘Rose Petal Jelly’ by Angela Readman