by Helen Ivory | May 10, 2017 | 2017 poetry picks, Prose & Poetry
The Beach Dead sand trickles between my naked toes. Crushed winter light befuddles borders, obscures the pier, unsettles the breakwater; ships labour under dubious cargoes. Swimmers and surfers, those gritty heroes of the shallows, have deserted, children,...
by Helen Ivory | May 9, 2017 | 2017 poetry picks, Prose & Poetry
The New Mother found poem from Every Woman’s Doctor Book If your figure is not as trim as before make yourself a brassiere from a 45 inch length of towelling. Most mothers whose figures are loose will be much improved by wearing a good corset belt. If there...
by Helen Ivory | May 7, 2017 | 2017 poetry picks, Haibun, Tanka, Haiku & Haiga
Your location Round the corner I hear you coming I hear you coming round the corner of the barn I arrange my arms and legs I hear around the corner of the barn the gravel’s tough back teeth working doggedly on splintering a bone I spin up a cloud of smoke to be...
by Helen Ivory | Apr 27, 2017 | 2017 poetry picks, Prose & Poetry
Cross Country A reluctant concession For those of insufficient bulk Or violent disposition To take part in the awful Battle of blood and mud Laughingly referred to As a game. Unsupervised Our route wound Far away from The killing fields Past gasworks And...
by Helen Ivory | Apr 19, 2017 | 2017 poetry picks, Prose & Poetry
Seamless Ever since I remodelled my sister’s hair they’ve hidden scissors, pen knives, sometimes needles in a locked room. The key’s hidden under a stone somewhere in the nettled-yard. I recognise its glint, slip it in my shirt pocket, squeeze it in my...
by Helen Ivory | Apr 19, 2017 | 2017 poetry picks, Prose & Poetry
Gleaning Mother wears the vines of summer, hawthorn hackles raised in grief. She’s my father’s stubborn mourner, pecking at his horehound leaves. Nurses scatter apple blossom, bleach is masked in meadow scent. Father burrows under holly, glossy spines can’t...
