Whale Winter: windless, and a morning frost Yielded, softening in the southern sun. Kaikoura was still and bright, and the air carried The sweet scent of the glass-green ocean. We sailed in a small craft, stopping Where, we were told, the shelving shore Pitched precipice-like to dark depths, And we waited. No waves stirred the … Continue reading ‘Whale’ by Gordon Gibson
Tag: Poetry
‘The Bird Room’ by Dawn Gorman
The Bird Room There were no birds here, just books about them, maps on the walls with a forest of pins to mark where he’d seen them, and drawer after drawer of eggs. Her bed was squeezed into a corner; she drew in her borders so she could fit. A leopard-print chair was pushed up … Continue reading ‘The Bird Room’ by Dawn Gorman
Two poems by Mark Russell
For Harry, Wilma & Queen George The company assembles on home turf – The Dolphin. One whisky, and dog tags to help us home. Camel calls a taxi to take us to the start – The Britannia. From here our orders are: pints of bitter only. Wire gets a text in The Crown & Sceptre. … Continue reading Two poems by Mark Russell
Two poems by Ken Evans
In Zero Gravity If ever you are sucked out into space by an ill-judged partnership, a scheming co-worker, the belligerent family member, you’ll know what love spurned feels like: your eyes bulge but cannot shed tears, out beyond the troposphere. The moisture on your tongue boils, blood does not flow. You lose what’s down or … Continue reading Two poems by Ken Evans
‘Ship’s Desk’ by Sarah Sibley
Ship’s Desk I could have been flung overboard with smoke floats, not detained at port without explanation. I imagine the bottom of the ocean, the torment of tentacles tugging on my nestled drawers while plankton swish through keyholes. On solid ground, there’s not the comforting creak of the ship’s bowels but they found me a … Continue reading ‘Ship’s Desk’ by Sarah Sibley
‘February’ by Tim Dooley
We walked back and forth from the library, preparing for some high leap: sunlight catching the tallest spume of the shopping centre fountain. Something we owe to the past made our elders stand, kneel and then sit in buildings warmed by a hope for something better. That monogrammed leather trunk we use to … Continue reading ‘February’ by Tim Dooley
‘Six Perspectives on Lilian Kjærulff’ by Lisa Kelly
Six Perspectives on Lilian Kjærulff 2 April 1934 - 17 July 2010 i second daughter from second marriage I know why you married so young. You curtsied to him, offered your gloved hand with your girlish good manners, straight off the Esbjerg boat. Your signature move: that dip. You were a tall girl; your … Continue reading ‘Six Perspectives on Lilian Kjærulff’ by Lisa Kelly
‘Ship-breaking’ by Hannah Lowe
Ship-breaking These folks were not the victims of migration…these folks mean to survive – Stuart Hall I watch old films of ship yards on the Clyde: cranes ripping ships apart, their metal hides peeled back by men in goggles wielding fire. The shock of innards: girders, joists and wires, a rusted funnel toppling in slow … Continue reading ‘Ship-breaking’ by Hannah Lowe
Two poems by Peter Daniels
Regulars Tonight we go through to the small back room hung with wrestling posters, plastic vegetables and salami. It's cosy here, warm at least, away from the street. Nearer the kitchen, source of heat, food and argument; nearer the toilets. Catch a lime-scented disinfectant that sanctifies the smell of drains. Up there on a ceiling … Continue reading Two poems by Peter Daniels
Two poems by Aki Schilz
The Fall I have clasped your edges so hard they leave grooves in my palms, deep as the grooves of horse-reins beneath the bridges on towpaths wasted with bracken and buddleia. These, and mine, cut across lifelines: a geometric interruption. * I cannot document dropping you on a sunlit day, startled by the … Continue reading Two poems by Aki Schilz
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