Category: Past issues

My heart goes out At the seaside it is gritty and on piers underswum by fish. Gets out books on the armours of the ancient world; it would try on helmets if it had eyes. Keeps lists in musical notation some things be done Calmly some With the Jinking Energy of a Monkey.     …

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What to do When the Lights Go Out I know what you’re thinking and it’s true that birth rates peak nine months after power cuts but this is a family poem and if you have ever played charades by candlelight you will understand the wide eyes of children and the way the corners of the …

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Good grief: three poems Audrey Evelyn Weeping trees Shield the house Aunty’s old shed From the road Grey planes It caught the sun Inside dust laughed Drunken chairs Chicken feed Driftwood Alone inside Space enough To waltz     Susan Gay Further north Frayed blue rope Swings the park We might have Played here in …

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Nafanua’s sister thinks about Nafanua in America Think of my scenes: thin, meatless, glamorous as gravy. She is making a life for herself in America. I work in a library not even a city library, but a library of World War Two amphibious vehicles. A library that only old men visit. Old men with live …

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A little cuckoo   At the tiny broken gate, she pulls her hood further over her face, looks quickly up and down the street then crosses the short path to the stoop. She reaches up to the top of the fuse box and feels around before locating the key. She unlocks the old door and …

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The legend of the lost watch We always knew he’d been done. It was spoken of third hand. We never knew the exact details. His grandmother said he was found under a cabbage in the garden. His grandfather promised him something. Before he left for overseas, he stood next to his father at the bar. …

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The term for survivors of the atomic bombs is ‘hibakusha’   Akihiro Takahashi, a famous hibakusha, has just died. He was born in Hiroshima in 1931. As a schoolboy he wanted to be a pilot. This is how he explains the fact that he stood still, looking up at the silver body of the plane, …

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On hands and being held   There is something so appealing about a rapturous, uplifting moment. Even an atheist like myself longs to feel lifted, held. There aren’t many times in our adult lives that we are picked up, it’s usually only as babies and small children. Often we have to hold up others when …

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Excerpt from The Nature of Ash   Mikey’s stuffed inside the kennel like a sow into a crate. His hands are tied behind his back but, even worse, he’s trussed around the neck as well. A slipknot. He’s tethered to the wood so if he tries to get away the rope will tighten like a …

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The Plan   ‘Where the River Meets the Sea’ track listing: 1. ‘Ghost’ – Indigo Girls 2. ‘Crystal’ – Stevie Nicks 3. ‘Say What You Want’ – Texas 4. ‘Inbetween Days’ – The Cure 5. ‘A Different Corner’ – George Michael 6. ‘Wonderful Life’ – Black 7. ‘Precious Things (Live)’ – Bic Runga 8. ‘Sisters …

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