The Finest Specimen When I was a child my father wrote the twelve fair days of Roscommon on the back of a Players pack and taught me to recite them as farmers used to do. He showed me where the blacksmith had inscribed 1865 on a gate - the year Yeats was born, he’d say. … Continue reading Two poems by Jane Clarke
Tag: Poetry
‘Infinity of Red’ by Shanta Acharya
Infinity of Red Lips blushing cheeks colour of magic hennaed hands and feet desire blazing like autumnal leaves Fields of poppies bouquet of roses flowers of the gulmohur tree flame of the forest red hibiscus fuchsia roses … Continue reading ‘Infinity of Red’ by Shanta Acharya
‘Isla and Baby Jesus’ by Andrew Rudd
you were only two and you didn’t know the little wooden peg you held that you lifted so carefully out of the little manger in the nativity set was God but you held God with such gentleness and showed God all the trees and you bent low to your hands so that you … Continue reading ‘Isla and Baby Jesus’ by Andrew Rudd
‘Stone circle’ by Alwyn Marriage
Stone circle The days are lengthening, shadows of the stones at midday shrinking to a pool. Enigmatic and immovable, a well of theories and wild suppositions taunts our search for certainty: moon time, sun time, sacrifice, almanac for planting, feast and frenzied orgy at each solstice celebration. Through the ages hands have stroked the surface … Continue reading ‘Stone circle’ by Alwyn Marriage
‘Colouring in’ by John Foggin
Colouring in This is what I have learned in the streets of my town which is made of stone. There are thirty seven steps. At the foot, in a cold iron pot, are flowers, soft and velvet as the inside of my cat’s ear. They tell me: these are blue. They say: the sky is … Continue reading ‘Colouring in’ by John Foggin
Two poems by Daniel Sluman
Two poems from the terrible (Nine Arches Press) feeding the bed we haggle & haul each piece of furniture into the house throwing the songs from our past into the fire they crack like potassium at the foot of the bed with the fake lashes & … Continue reading Two poems by Daniel Sluman
Two poems by Jennifer Wong
Two poems from Goldfish (Chameleon Press, 2013) Mother and Child You showed me how to tell a fresh egg by its shell, holding it up against the lamp. You’d look up at the sky, predict from the stillness of the air when the rain would arrive. The language of your dishes: ginger and tangerine peel … Continue reading Two poems by Jennifer Wong
‘Plait’ by Emma Simon
Plait The trick is to hold three braids in two hands and ignore the logistics of mornings. Wind the first over the second, then cross the third over the first, and so on. Don’t get cross with excessive fidgeting, or arguments slipping like hoarded minutes out of hand. Keep a zen-like calm in your fingers. … Continue reading ‘Plait’ by Emma Simon
‘Ophelia’ by Peter Kenny
Ophelia You write your name on water and then you sink. A wet halo shrinks around your face and you sink lips last. Ophelia why didn’t you float like the others? Why didn’t you drift downstream with a glut of Pre-Raphaelite flowers? I’m terrified that you’ve stopped breathing or that you gulp the dim, death-gladdening … Continue reading ‘Ophelia’ by Peter Kenny
‘Sibling Love’ by Kate Hendry
Sibling Love It's always when my back is turned. I'm at my desk – a hollow thump, palm on back, her echoing rib cage. I turn, grab my son's arms. I want him to confess. 'It was an accident,' he pleads. Always too late. I drag him down the hall, he's not yet dressed. 'I … Continue reading ‘Sibling Love’ by Kate Hendry
andotherpoems.com 