• “Limerence” and other poems by Palmer Smith

    limerence i loved a somnambulist we’re like a No(thing), a No(body) two no-bodies equal Somebody, right? (re)-read my words bottle of tequila, all the limes all the girls you have loved, shaken up in this cup i lovingly stirred you stumble on red oak floors ceiling, a map of london lon-don-ing you illicit, (i)llicit you,…

  • Protected: ‘Early risers’ by C. Murray

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  • “Moss” and other poems by Niamh Twomey

    Homing Salmon Under the gush of shower water your greying skin flails. In your mind you wade back to the brook, the water icy even in summer, your seven siblings balancing on the pebbled belly of the River Fergus, suds in your hair, brothers dunking you under, ice forming in your brain, penetrating your veins,…

  • “I don’t belong here’ by Fizza Abbas

    I don’t belong here I love chipped crayons, they tell me colours can come in different forms: pitch-black darkness can become the reincarnation of red, moonlight can subdue the proud ribbon-like body of the river, wise men need not have a white beard. I often whisper to the wavelength, ask her to, once, and for…

  • “Passing through” and other poems by Betty Thompson

    Balloons A stream of them – long and ribboning before they were inflated; breath-filled they turned into globes and cylinders: fat demi-lunes ably shaped by the long-fingered magician who, in his downtime offstage from the Hippodrome, relaxing by the fire, legs stretched across the hearth, would plunge those long hands into his pockets, to pull…

  • “Time” by Fidel Hogan Walsh and Julie Corcoran

    2020, Memories Blinded in a winter’s dread no prophet foresaw. Spring’s new life erupted into a chaos of fear. Desolation replaced the warmth of a hug. Children banished from our everyday lives! Ahh, the blessings — a swift journey home to the unexpected happiness under one roof. Chatter, laughter — a family enduring dark days…

  • Poems from ‘My Name Is’ by Polina Cosgrave

    Starship The blackest of holes, the hottest of suns, the craziest captain alive. Surrender to none, be gentle to some, stay tough as the skies collide. The milkiest way is over my head. They’re chasing me mile after mile. This starship is mine, try and catch me, I said. This marvellous starship is mine. Self-portrait…

  • ‘Imprint’ by C. Murray

      Amber her halls— by the periphery trees open out sky’s lungs. There are small birds below, they sing her boundaries: clay and Blue– this living thing. I touch her skin, it strikes White heart -wood blood runs white with light. She tells her tale, Silver beech, a wren– © C. Murray 2020 Read A…

  • Poems from ‘Alchemy’ by Fiona Perry

    Postpartum You are as naked as a shucked oysterso, my breasts are slashed and raining pearlsfor you, my suckling child. The universehas too many doors. A terrifying flowerunfurled overnight to tell me if they tookyou away or carted you off to dielike pink tender veal. I would be preparedto stand on my own mother’s shouldersto…

  • Poems from “Venus in Pink Marble” by Gaynor Kane

      Window weather The Icelanders have a word that means just that.A murky day that you know is betterenjoyed from the comfort of a window seat;soft mizzle cleansing leaves shiny and bright. When webs become crystal dreamcatchers,or perfect drops form on the telephone linesand slide slowly down like the oilon the wire of the indoor…