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Pithy and poised: On James Peake’s ‘The Third City’
Daniel Bennett James Peake’s third book, The Third City (Two Rivers Press, 2025), is a short collection of around 40 pages, but it represents a fifteen-minute city of intimacy […]
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‘Damson Cheese’: a poem by Nicola Healey
Damson Cheese I watched you stir a jam potwhen I came up to oven height.An alchemist’s work stationwould not have held more wonder.Testing to see if it was set, a […]
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Two poems from ‘Divided Tongues’ by Patrick Davidson Roberts
Below are two poems from Divided Tongues, the new collection from Patrick Davidson Roberts, published this month by Broken Sleep Books. Patrick will be part of Broken Sleep’s forthcoming […]
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Two poems by Idman Omar
Sick Day in the still working hours, this place satin its own plasma hustling its rentedland to no one, silence on crunchy roads mostly up to theirelbows in racket and […]
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‘Comet C/2023 A3’: a poem by Gregory Leadbetter
Below is a poem from Gregory Leadbetter’s new collection The Infernal Garden, recently published by Nine Arches Press. Comet C/2023 A3 The watchers called, all world wide, for whathad not […]
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‘Monbazillac’: a poem by Julie Irigaray
Monbazillac We know she’s going to die soon,so we’ve started clearing out her house. We spend our evenings sorting throughGranny’s photos: Mum throws all the albums from her trips with […]
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‘If Only I Moved by Instinct’: a poem by D.R. James
If Only I Moved by Instinct Life has been a grand migrationto where you are today!— well-known wisdom I didn’t know! Otherwise,when those raggedy squadronsclamored overhead last evening— three V’s […]
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‘Beethoven’s Sonata in C Minor’: a poem by Elena Croitoru
Beethoven’s Sonata in C Minor It was the way he touched his mother’s neckthat first gave him the idea. Her vocal cordstrembled under his yet-delicate fingers,& he thought of that […]
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A Hobby of Existence: on Dastidar, Sastry, Vince, & Winn
Kevin Gardner According to the randomness of the laws of the universe, or at least of the postal service, I will occasionally receive by mail, in quick succession, review copies […]
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Two poems by Jay Caldwell
Deceit I talk to you now more than I ever did;long chats about zen, or work, or musicwhile I walk the dog around Torside.Pausing we watch a deceit of lapwings,newly […]
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Two poems by Nicholas Murray
Ash Wednesday The smudge of ashfrom a priest’s thumbmarked us. As we stepped awayfrom the altar steps,the forty days to come a test of our selected abstinence,giving up sweet thingsfor […]
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Two poems from ‘Compass Light’ by Hilary Davies
Below are two poems from Compass Light, the new collection from Hilary Davies, recently published by Renard Press. River People Some of them – have you noticed? – hardly […]
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‘Audition’: a poem by Sheila E. Murphy
Audition I got my booster shot. The roostertrots out into the yard and throats a shout.Some huge truck beep-whines its lorry line of code.I’m about to compose an odefrom bedfast […]
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Two poems from ‘Landline’ by William Wootten
Below are two poems from William Wootten’s new collection, Landline, forthcoming from Worple Press this October. Landline is Wootten’s first full-length collection in almost a decade, since You Have a […]
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An extract from ‘A High Calling’ by John Greening
Below are two extracts from A High Calling (or Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?) by John Greening, recently published by Renard Press. Sharing what Greening has learnt during […]
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Six poems from ‘Scavenger’ by Lisa Kelly
Lisa writes: The Scavenger project relies on the acrostic form to record my regular walks around the Darlands Nature Reserve near where I live in north London. The garden centre […]
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Losing ‘a sense sublime’: anosmia and poetry
William Wordsworth at 28, by William Shuter Nicola Healey Smell is arguably the poet’s sense, and the most poetic sense: it is the most mysterious, least understood sense; scent triggers […]
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‘Not before time’: a poem by Paul Stephenson
Not before time will I climb the hillup to the Acropolis then climb down again to sit about at a bar in Psyrilistening to jazz and sipping […]
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‘For Takamura Kotaro’: a poem by Frederick Pollack
For Takamura Kotaro When the Bombs fall, and you listento the Emperor’s speech(almost opaquely formal,about “bearing the unbearable”),you think again of Chieko –now seven years dead –and certain phrases(perhaps from […]
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A poem from ‘Peckinpah Suite’ by Paul Munden
In 1977 Sam Peckinpah, the writer and director, bought a plot of land in a remote part of Montana and had a cabin constructed. It was more a dream than […]