by Helen Ivory | Feb 18, 2016 | 2016 poetry picks, Prose & Poetry
Missing Silverware Phantoms annoy my memory palace Late at night into early morning light, Streeling through the halls like banshee, they sing Dissonantly and claim to be me Or my siblings or old friends and lovers, Even to aping our gestures, taking Our...
by Helen Ivory | Feb 17, 2016 | Prose & Poetry
Bibi, are you living? When the snoring stopped as you perched by the fire with loving impudence you asked: Bibi, are you living? You listened awestruck to your Scheherazade, her convoluted ancestral tales, repeatedly embellished tales of Salim and...
by Helen Ivory | Feb 16, 2016 | Prose & Poetry
One Under at St Paul’s Central westbound, strangely grabbed from standing sleep by scream of brakes which didn’t stop when we did but migrated into mouths of those who saw him under. Someone sighed. Some other knelt and looked. How cold the pillow...
by Helen Ivory | Feb 15, 2016 | Prose & Poetry
Lagos Roofs The roofs of Lagos Technicolor Bits of sticks, stones, nylon Worn out sandals Bits of teeth, Eczema, scarifications of rain and sun The insignia of the owner Proud of his garrisoned house Antenna and plates Dishes...
by Helen Ivory | Feb 14, 2016 | 2016 poetry picks, Prose & Poetry
Love Love speaks in a manna-song, one that God might try on prophets. Don’t guess and tell, it says. You stumble down and through the gaping cave, giddy with self-consciousness and breathless ephemera. Don’t ask, says Love. Don’t assume. So you...
by Helen Ivory | Feb 13, 2016 | 2016 poetry picks, Prose & Poetry
Tying the bowline Slipped back on itself through the first loop, the rope forms a round window. You’re halfway in. Slick as a snake charmer you guide your needle point to pierce the eye, that tooth-shaped space, as words unravel me until nothing...
