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 26, 2017 | Prose & Poetry
I am wearing layers and do not shiver Thin light. You expect me to kneel down and put my head on the block. Legend: Anne Boleyn was given the mercy of a sharp sword, and skill, a swift blow. A trial where the witch is not allowed to speak. Something mediaeval...
by Helen Ivory | Apr 25, 2017 | Prose & Poetry
A Few Regrets He was from somewhere close to inhospitable – the north of Russia, maybe. His act involved tearing guests from middle aisles and inserting them into backless chairs. He would pitch his waxed palms sideways and dribble towards the...
by Helen Ivory | Apr 24, 2017 | Prose & Poetry
Hallway I can’t imagine how it must have been: my sudden, sticky fists, my turbulence, my fretful sleep. The constant interruptions, the mess, the uncontrollable outpour of love like a reflex, a weeping wound. And then the years, hurling...
by Helen Ivory | Apr 23, 2017 | Prose & Poetry
Adoration in the Catalina Foothills Below this crest of stillness in a mid-winter evening of hard frost and grim-wrought gray, I’m an indecent animal, dying sadly in the briefest moments on a road meant for misfits and outlaws. Barely a vapor exists—...
by Helen Ivory | Apr 22, 2017 | Prose & Poetry
Qin The pairs of passing seagulls echoed each other. Egrets (in twos) watched their shadows from the shore. Last night my lover brought me oysters on ice cold and sharp with salt and chilli. They sat in my stomach wet and heavier than water. I threw my...
