Welcome to the Ink Sweat & Tears Poetry Archive
This archive is formed from all the posts from that original Ink Sweat & Tears website, it now consists of everything we have published up to the end of 2019. IS&T was founded by Salt author Charles Christian in 2007 as a platform for new poetry and short prose, and experimental work in digital media. Charles ran the site single-handedly, publishing new work every day till 2010, when now sole editor, poet and artist Helen Ivory came on board as Deputy Editor. The Ink Sweat & Tears website continues to run and can be found here.
You can either click on the poems below which run from most recent to oldest, or you can search for particular poem or poet, there is also a list of all the categories to click through. From Prose & Poetry to Words and Images, Haibun, Tanka, Haiku & Haiga, in addition we have all of the Poems of the month and Poetry picks, old blogs and news, award nominated, reviews and interviews.
Please do take a look.
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Prose and poetry
Poems and prose published on the website from start to finish.
Cat Wright
Emily Says Mornings in Haworth begin with church bells Emily appears again while the tourists are still finding the schoolhouse, Finding the tea rooms and gift shops Finding the...
David Calcutt
from Wintering 1 Things are hunkering down. Roots burrow deep, nosing among the winter nests, the curled fur and trembling antennae. The seed lie snug in the earth’s closed...
Nick Browne
Things you must know The Boiler is in the cupboard. Instructions are in the drawer The pilot light of my heart is off. Relighting is not possible. Broad band, TV and telephone...
Sally Michaelson
Windfall A fox crossing the tramlines stole the apple the woman dropped when she fell, spilling the contents of her purse like I Ching straws into the moonlight. ...
Ross McCleary
I put a wolf in the basement The wolf is arguing with my neighbours. He is asking to be let out. He is persuasive, and good at small talk. He is no danger to them, but he is a...
L. A. MacRae
Jackdaw Girl Fern MacArthur stands on the back step. She stoops to strike a match on stone, cupping the flame as she straightens. The woodbine glows red with her indrawn breath....
Meg Culp
Sinking I don’t often drown anymore Most of the time, I feel obligated To a routine immersion Some type of spiritless baptism Where the ocean pulls me to her floor Into a sunken...
Ray Malone
Suppose Suppose the tree once leant into the wind went the other way against the giving in the prevailing call to obey let’s say one wilful day it shook free from ages of...
Brett Evans
Sglyfath My father's tongue flicked the fiery Welsh; I flicked two fingers back at him and ancestry. Assaults, volleys, skirmishes, stormed fortresses; ignorant oppression,...
Mary Mulholland
Bluebeard's Cousin Your red jacket’s stark against the snow of the Welsh mountains. He’s brought you to his home, where everyone’s asleep. The sky is black above the mountains....
Poetry Picks
Our favourite poems and ‘best of’ chosen from each month between 2007 and 2019
George Aird
The Doctor Will See You (As A Piece of Meat, Until You Start Bleeding Everywhere) Measured in syllables, the distance between the kitchen door and table is not enough to avoid the question. The way that silence makes a mess of you if you really bite into...
October’s Pick of the Month is ‘The night that takes our shape’ by Phil Powrie
Phil Powrie's 'The night that takes our shape', an 'evocative, melancholy and beautiful' poem is a much deserved Pick of the Month for October 2017. This dark and haunting poem struck a chord with many who felt it was one for our times; its reach even went as...
George Szirtes for Remembrance Sunday
Chorus from The Returning We are the people, the nation and the state We are the inscriptions, the documents The declarations, the pomp and the circumstance, The structures of being, the bedrock of commerce The official face of the face in...
Word & Image by Helen Pletts and Romit Berger
Reconnaître I want to remember the way back. It seems Orion has the compass' foot, Swinging his other leg out into the dark With the confidence of a man who walks on stars. I use the skills of the corncrake tonight. I need to remember in the...
Pat Edwards
March 1999 Everyone is panicking about millennial catastrophe, anticipating computer failure on a global scale. All the clocks will stop, North, South, East, West; the moon, sun, oceans, will descend to chaos. With everything that's going on...
Deborah Sibbald
Portrait of the late Mrs Partridge I inhabit the rough drawings of numberless wild places which camouflage my handsome brindle rougey linen plumage and faintly jewelled russet feather boa My chestnut hair is blown upwards like whirring flames...
Haibun, Tanka, Haiku, & Haiga
Haibun, Tanka, Haiku, & Haiga reviously published on the website.
New haiga by John Irvine
* John Irvine is a regular contributor to IS&T.
New haiga by Charles Christian
* IS&T editor Charles Christian likes to keep his postings to a minimum but with the UK currently enjoying a St Martin's Summer (Oh, look it up) here's a seasonal haiga.
Two haibun by Jeff Winke
It’s that KWISH…… sound of the truck’s air brakes backing up snug tothe loading dock’s battered pads in the middle of thenight.windshield rainsmell of hot drip coffeefrom the thermos~ ~ ~ ~ ~The Sign As They Likely DashedAt 2am it is a curious but welcome sight –...
Four katautas by Ralph-Michael Chiaia
Kata #1Is this what you call luck?It's always about to go sour or need some attention.Is life like a nagging sore throat you can't shake?It's a soft breeze in the head—no! a warm sip of tea.Kata #2Why is there music on?No, and yes, it's a sample...
5 haiku by Helen Buckingham
slow news day –the French waspinvades bored with dental floss cat retiresto wash between two cloudsa darker cloud –friend on the...
New haibun by Ron Koertege
DowntownLight from everywhere this afternoon, every windshield and sheet of glass, light off of cuff links and earrings, from every concealed whim, light from belt buckles and clasps on the vintage shoes of that assistant manager, light off the foil that guards...
12 Days of Christmas
All the poems from our regular 12 days of Christmas feature.
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Words & Images
Words with images previously published on the website.
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Blogs and news
Blogs and archived news from 2007 to 2020.
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Reviews
Archived reviews from 2007 to 2020.
Ken Head reviews ‘Hide’ by Angela France
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Samatar Elmi reviews ‘Candy Coated Unicorns and Converse All Stars’ by Inua Ellams
Text and Text Messages Inua Ellams is in demand. This collection provides ample evidence for why this is so. Candy...
David Cooke reviews Hilda Sheehan’s ‘The Night My Sister Went to Hollywood.’
The Night My Sister Went to Hollywood is a debut collection from Hilda Sheehan, a mother of five who is the...
Interviews
Archived interviews from 2007 to 2020.
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