Parecoxib after Levinas Mum’s face, almost completely other now.High cheekbones she would have loved,pale skin she would have rouged.Our loved ones: my godparents holding hands,my dad – become her husband once again. Her lip twitches. Then, her shoulders roil.And now a groan. I would and will do all of this again:David’s dreaded, gentle ‘Hello Catherine’,his…

Saying Our Goodbyes The ward sister points us to your single room.It seems that you’re asleep as we come in but when Dad leans across and says your nameyour eyes open and there you are, thinner now, a fragile patch of chest above the gown,your bicep hanging like a loop of dough but you –…

Piking i. The wind plays a low notethrough the one bar gate onto the bridleway.I tick the code into the lock. It clicks open. Once our car has passed, the gate fastenslike a set of chimes. Back in the car,it’s a short, choppy drive up to the copse. Then we’re outside, booting up,putting on layers,…

Photo by Jinen Shah on Unsplash           Farm Work   Your first car catches heat like a tin roof, white clouds snag on the barbed wire of vapour trails against a background of powder blue. A forklift lurches past. The pig-shed stench is thick with gold under ash canopies and powerlines. ‘Why…

        Toll   I hear the accusations like the Lutine Bell: nostalgie de la boue or blood and soil; found poetry or cento. Nonetheless it makes the Mersey look like churned-up mud, the curt cuts of an accent awaken roots inside my parents’ head. After the long drive north from the flat lands…