Perfection B.C. (Before Cancer): SATURDAY, 1ST AUGUST Graceful necks of wilting gold, Dry grass sleeps upon the breeze; My daughters fine white hair, Like cotton thread, lifts, A cube of hissing morning Bleeding through us. In this field I invented summer When I was cotton like her, And from here all ensuing summers broke, Perfected … Continue reading Extract from a sequence by Greg Gilbert
Tag: Poetry
Two poems by Richard Skinner
The Cloud of Unknowing There, it is done. We have built squarely in the dross of the land a place of worship for our Lord. It took years to sand the stone, make flush the lines. But, really, we were shaping our own misshapen lives. Scrape mud before you enter, be clean. Embolden yourself—look up, … Continue reading Two poems by Richard Skinner
Two poems by Tristram Fane Saunders
Poem in which there are hooves Greg, gently mashing the keys of a Steinway. Or Greg, brow furrowed, struggling to grasp a toothbrush, album, cup. Now Greg in bed: listen for the unconsolable clop that comes each night before his prayers. Unhappy Greg, remembering the touch of things, people. His mother's face. Has he not … Continue reading Two poems by Tristram Fane Saunders
Three poems by Jean Atkin
Not there, nearly This cream blackthorn warm of morning is the hour to be patching the cattle trailer with squint squares of corrugated tin and new rivets. The air is lamb-bleat soft. Away up the lane go steady hoofbeats, clip of iron to stone, the horse-pace laid in layers over the land. A tawny owl … Continue reading Three poems by Jean Atkin
‘Sand’ by Jane Commane
It began when you opened your desk and found everything gone, replaced with sand. You opened the wooden pencil case your brother had made and it contained nothing but sand. Next, your books filled with sand and the words began to wear away. Your homework was late because sand ate the sums and solutions. Study … Continue reading ‘Sand’ by Jane Commane
Two poems by Yvonne Reddick
Translating Mountains from the Gaelic A pebble on the tongue – my clumsy mouth stumbles their meanings: I mumble Beinn Laoghail to Ben Loyal, Beinn Uais to Ben Wyvis, humble Beinn Artair from King Arthur’s Hill to The Cobbler – turn Bod an Deamhain from Demon’s Penis to Devil’s Point, stammer on An Teallach with … Continue reading Two poems by Yvonne Reddick
Two poems by Jim Pascual Agustin
Just This One Art. 33. No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited. The Fourth Geneva Convention When someone says “Think about the bigger picture,” I hide. My life has the legs of an … Continue reading Two poems by Jim Pascual Agustin
Two poems by Jo Burns
Swimming in crop circles It’s the hazy bleached-air season of white. Stalks hunger and cling to the August sun, ears tuned for the suck and swing of the scythe splitting ranks one by one. Four boys and I swim rapt in butter yellow, rolling in circles, daring dives into terra. We taunt … Continue reading Two poems by Jo Burns
Two poems by Joe Carrick-Varty
Tree Shaping In our alphabet of trees you chose the first. Apple, a gravel path leading through a garden crunched over, turned left down a lonning the previous tenant never knew existed. Then Ash. 1928 we chased helicopter seeds through summer and fields backed onto by suburban patios with children playing and the … Continue reading Two poems by Joe Carrick-Varty
‘real boy’ by Thomas Stewart
this is a true story: they said you’re not a real boy until you cut the wizard out of the tree, it’s a question of which tree: real boys might pick oak, birch or beech, and then boys that pick alder, elm or hawthorn are unreal, unreal boys hold the axe and … Continue reading ‘real boy’ by Thomas Stewart
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