by Helen Ivory | Feb 2, 2019 | Prose & Poetry
The Weight of a Father It was fairly simple. All they had to do was follow the mindless path of destruction through torn-up front yards and past broken streets signs to arrive at our front door. Dad was still passed out at the end of the hall and...
by Helen Ivory | Feb 1, 2019 | 2019 poetry picks, Prose & Poetry
The card given out at his funeral has no obituary. No order of service. Just his name, curlicued and slant, year of birth, hyphen, year of death. Above that, an old print plate of his reproduced landscape-wise, its surface sectioned into eighths, each...
by Helen Ivory | Jan 30, 2019 | Prose & Poetry
Cruel Laughter Tortoise-shell glasses framed Marc’s lively, brown eyes. He worked in Foyles, a leading London bookshop. With his typically huge smile, he said: “A workmate has written three novels. He’s forty-five and...
by Helen Ivory | Jan 29, 2019 | 2019 poetry picks, Prose & Poetry
Rhine Swim When you slip into the river and float downstream, first swim a little, then tread water to keep your head in the air, then tip it back and kick your legs up to the surface. With your ears underwater, the world goes silent, and if you close...
by Helen Ivory | Jan 28, 2019 | Prose & Poetry
henry john lintott I, I, I, the millennium’s baby, That stinking beauty who crunches down hearts like candy I laugh with each push burn of knuckles and open my throat to grey sky Because that is all I deserve A song a spell a draught for sleep a...
by Helen Ivory | Jan 27, 2019 | Prose & Poetry
Recovery room. My words dissolve in the fog of my mask. I peer at faces through a spy hole lens, try to join the fragments. They slip through my brain like egg-white through fingers. Strangers call my name, speak through seashells. The clock...
