First the Music and then the Words Listening to Strauss’s ‘Capriccio’ I dreamt I was decked in dark furs and running down the colonnades of a deserted town, one time the capital of a great empire, now in flames. I smashed statues, slashed tapestries and stripped the gold. I pissed in the silverware and forced … Continue reading ‘First the Music and then the Words’ by Jeremy Wikeley
Tag: Poetry
‘A confession’ by Mark Robinson
A confession My friends, I left my foot in and I followed through. I ploughed on when pace left me for dead. I pulled out of simple 50:50s. I chose to stand still and became a wall. I ball-watched, took my eye off it. I made bad decisions and thought I saw passes My limbs … Continue reading ‘A confession’ by Mark Robinson
‘Mrs Elizabeth Freake and Baby Mary’ by Olivia McCannon
Mrs Elizabeth Freake and Baby Mary (Anonymous artist, New England, late 17th century) The baby is looking to one side – Uncovering an early smile – at The next canvas being painted The mother attentive, but Watching the way you watch her Challenging whatever it is You think she is doing – yes, … Continue reading ‘Mrs Elizabeth Freake and Baby Mary’ by Olivia McCannon
‘The Dark Smoothness of an Old Revolver’ by Catherine Edmunds
Oh, those Audrey Hepburn sunglasses! A man should get drunk now and then out of principle, like those of us here, defeated by life, scorned by the Trouville set. I’m sorry, I seem to have momentarily mislaid my muse, and am therefore inclined towards a certain delicious depravity. It is a little dear here, … Continue reading ‘The Dark Smoothness of an Old Revolver’ by Catherine Edmunds
‘Gilgamesh at the Edge of the World’ by Jenny Lewis
Canto Ten: Gilgamesh at the Edge of the World* Crazed with grief after the death of his friend, Enkidu, Gilgamesh wanders in the wilderness until he reaches the Edge of the World where he comes across a tavern kept by the demi-goddess, Siduri. Shrouded in hoods and veils she lived alone At the sea’s edge, … Continue reading ‘Gilgamesh at the Edge of the World’ by Jenny Lewis
‘Sugar is people too’ by Adham Smart
Sugar is people too The thief is in my mouth again; he knows how to pick his marks. As I hear his footsteps on my tongue I become a hummingbird-heart of hot-fingered delight, I want him to visit me nights and rob me senseless. Even when I’m having sex I’m thinking about white crystals yawning … Continue reading ‘Sugar is people too’ by Adham Smart
Two poems by Theophilus Kwek
Witness It was mid-morning. The body flipped, came to rest face-down on tarmac. Unaware, the rider went some distance then, noticing something was amiss, stopped, dismounted, ran back to where a gathering clutch of men knelt and stood. She was already gone. And so were we, drawn on by the bus’s trajectory toward our stops, … Continue reading Two poems by Theophilus Kwek
‘Woolf Wrote in Purple Ink’ by Jill Munro
Woolf Wrote in Purple Ink and I do too but did that before I knew and I know it’s kind of childish but I do just like the colour, the way it makes a signature look ─ bold, glamourous & cursive, even when it isn’t ─ and did you know she had a book … Continue reading ‘Woolf Wrote in Purple Ink’ by Jill Munro
Two poems by Janet Rogerson
Them (for them) i My girl's not mine, hers, insanely heart sharp, heart shaped face, kissy, kind through tunnel of missing teeth, deep dark hugs, wants a job colouring pictures of god, don't play the blink- ing game with her, she laughs like a thousand frogs. ii And blue, clinging you, close very close finds … Continue reading Two poems by Janet Rogerson
‘The Saturday Shift’ by Salena Godden
The Saturday Shift I'm trying to read a Jonathan Franzen article, his opinion of culture and despair. Bottom line is, he says, we just don’t read enough. There are two old ladies in this afternoon with frazzled, dried-apricot hair. They’re ordering double vodkas, with homeopathic splashes of lemonade. I’m having a glass of red, and … Continue reading ‘The Saturday Shift’ by Salena Godden
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