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CIRCLE OF PENS
Suddenly, seemingly wide awake, he shot upright, indignant and demanding to know where I had hidden them. “I know you know where they...
GIRL
I’m waking up early but want to keep sleeping, to stop the sun rising, to wave away leaving: to not say goodbye and feel my heart...
WHEAT BEER AND BURNT BARLEY
Through the fog, she reached forward, unembroidered his brocade- gold against black- and picked him apart. With fingers deft, she drew...
THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW
They come armed with bulbs: it’s not too late they say though the wind blows cold across the Shannon and the ground is frostbitten. I...
ONYX FROM PEJA
Peć to rhyme with deck of cards, stacked against a hand shaking, stacked against a trembling, laid beside the mountain stone: ruled like...
EXPECT LIFE TO BE LONG AND MISERABLE #1
In the 'synthetic cream' bakery, a squat man chats to his thin-limbed son. The boy has an empty orange bag slung across his chest. "How...
COVE POINT
The black feathers scribble invisible ink letters to long lost lovers across the furthest arcing reaches of the textured off-white sky....
CHEMIN DES DUNES
I park the car off Route de Gravelines – six minutes on Sat Nav from the Port – and head, on foot, along Chemin des Dunes: half road,...
MIGHTIER THAN
Things to be kept: My head My hands My books My pens My own bed Things to be whole: Hearts This to be sliced: Bread These to be held: A...
ALWAYS LOVED, DESPERATELY MISSED
Do bones feel a tickle as a finger traces letters – nestled, mossy letters – neatly indented in the cold grave stone? Is there a shiver...
NOT LIKE A MOLLUSC IN A PEARLY SHELL
More like a wife, curved thigh to thigh and sculpted back to belly: held tight by tattoed arms and warmed.
SAILING SEASON
Don’t keep your curtains closed against the day or leave your glasses waiting, arms open, ready to frame your face. Don’t leave your...
SUNDAY
I fall from a thousand metres up into crushed white sheets to sleep – wrecked with love. Photo by Lum3n from Pexels
FOR ZELDA
Esmé comes down the stairs with angry tears streaking unwanted understanding down her Year 5 face. This is death like she’s never known...
DEFENCE
It’s raining. It seems mud and rain is de rigeur in this world. She keeps this phrase to herself. Underdressed, she shifts, stamps feet,...
THE PLEASURE GROUND
What was the draw that brought us here, us four? Well, for one, we were rural-remote and chasm bored. Our Xanadu – a slope of woodland...
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