by Helen Ivory | Nov 2, 2018 | Prose & Poetry
Powerless in Town at Half-Past Nine The pharmacist in her white coat and I are conducting a £4.99 transaction when the power’s cut off all over town. With her cash tray exposed in the strange false dusk she fumbles me five pound coins and a penny,...
by Helen Ivory | Nov 1, 2018 | Prose & Poetry
How did he do that? How do you know when you meet one, one of the good ones? The rule is, some people say, you don’t notice anything exactly but you get a sort of unusual floating feeling and carried along feeling like a leaf on a stream,...
by Helen Ivory | Oct 31, 2018 | 2018 poetry picks, Prose & Poetry
Witch Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford A witch was bottled, and stoppered with wax in this ribbed and silvered scent-bottle. The hand-written ticket does not explain how she was captured, but says an old lady warned: if you let her out there’ll be a...
by Helen Ivory | Oct 30, 2018 | Prose & Poetry
Magician Master of misdirection, distraction, illusion, able to grab your attention, to hypnotize and amaze you with outrageous stunts, he points to respected figures while he does what he accuses others of. He grabs you when and where you least...
by Helen Ivory | Oct 29, 2018 | Prose & Poetry
Early stages The ferns look happy, healthy and green in the damp gloom. The birches have grown strong stems to rise to the light, above the roofs. They must have craved nurture at the start. And those acanthus will have needed protection from the...
by Helen Ivory | Oct 28, 2018 | Prose & Poetry
Dragonfly For five lively years it exists as a nymph, Reigning in the murderous rot of a pond, A terror to tadpoles and minnows it consumes, Fattening, quickening, gathering fuel, To hatch to an old-fashioned aeroplane With four gauzy wings That...
