by Kate Birch | Nov 23, 2019 | 2019 poetry picks
It is fitting that Helen Calcutt’s ‘A conversation with my daughter about my brother’s suicide’ is the Ink Sweat & Tears Pick of the Month for October 2019. The theme of National Poetry Day in October was Truth and what can be more truthful, more...
by Helen Ivory | Nov 18, 2019 | 2019 poetry picks, Prose & Poetry
The Hidden Once they were hidden Forest covered the fear Drowned out the silence… Darkness stood on the way home The clock of the heart was beating in seconds Dash up there quickly, spread the arms Hair will fall down gently
Hidden from...
by Helen Ivory | Nov 8, 2019 | 2019 poetry picks, Prose & Poetry
Moments of Vision The ultrafuturistic train glides in, and the station crystallises round it, sparkling marble and sky blue daylight. We glide out, the track beneath us imperceptibly smooth. England is becoming Tuscany by stealth. The cities...
by Helen Ivory | Nov 7, 2019 | 2019 poetry picks, Prose & Poetry
The Day his Father Left He had to write about yesterday. How could he, given what had happened? And how was it possible to write about anything else? His classmates’ pens were already moving, writing about the ordinary. His pen was still. He...
by Helen Ivory | Nov 6, 2019 | 2019 poetry picks, Prose & Poetry
Straight off the bat Straight off the bat, I reckon you know better words than me. Big juicy ones bathing in the pool of your tongue. Show- stoppers on each fingertip, pointing me towards the nearest dictionary. I’d say you keep a few...
by Helen Ivory | Oct 29, 2019 | 2019 poetry picks, Prose & Poetry
Profuse I have nothing to say about what happened. It’s been dealtwith. I’ve issued my apologies. Things didn’t turn out like I wanted: it was an accident, of course it was; the fish was being handled well. Esme gave me the money for the herring,...
