Hello

      Elements On my son’s desk lies the periodic table of the elements. I look. Amongst the arcane names I recognise, easy as breathing, carbon, oxygen, gold, beloved of kings. He shows me how it’s laid out – from left to right by increasing atomic...

      Forty (for Maryna) The first three days of war have a surprising holiday feel. No deadlines, just the giddy gasp of shock. Ordinary life continues. The girl in white socks in the flat downstairs plays a prelude then turns, pleased, to an audience...

    Conscience as taught her by the nuns   was a bridle on a young girl’s tongue   pony frolic legs a choke-hold   on convolvulus excess seductive as leaves skittering over moon scatter grass   dandelion pappus   weighted with girlish longings   a...

      A Memory Moves Me On (Teenage Years) Teenage years everything begins it never ends Berries shout my name at the fruit stall I hear a voice sing more than words, see   the cross of his cheekbones, the shade of his hair. I save his image to a locked...

      Minder Care is a state in which something does matter – Rollo May I didn’t know what to do with all my dad’s love so, I minded it for him fully intending to give it back one day. Thing is, that day never arrived, the time never seemed right and...

      Testing the mettle Ther was no man, for peril, dorste hym touche. A Sheffeld thwitel baar he in his hose. The Reeves Tale, Canterbury Tales, Chaucer. Such a knife, a real Et Tu Brute number. Bone handled, incisive. Decades of marriage had whetted...

      The art of cutting and stitching My mother’s knife made the first cuts – she removed my fertile light bulbs, then stuffed my womb with shredded tissues. Not cruelty, you understand, but failed protection. Men have still hacked and moulded. A chop,...

      Serenity Prayer god grant us the serenity / to accept the things we cannot change / the courage to change the / things we can / and the wisdom to know el differencio / such as / true Heinz ketchup / vs Aldi home brand / the subtle grief of budget...

      Four-Leaf Clover We searched so long for that clover. Every time the sun shone we scoured the fields and woods, running past the children playing with skipping ropes and hula hoops. Then you came to me and said you found one. The tape transparent...

      The Headteacher Counts Down to the School Firework Display for BB 10    Children dart in the dark, screamers streaming sweets and neon, their parents 9          huddling, clutching wholesale beers sold for a profit by the PTA 8          So many...

      Summer Days Those hot hot summer days. Hair curling against sticky clammy foreheads. Pony tails, pig tails or braids. Keep it off our neck and backs. Sometimes we’d skinny dip in the middle of the afternoon. Having a glorious time being mermaids,...

      Telephone Piece 電話 ピース (after Music of the Mind, Tate Modern) Hello it's Yoko Yoko desu   Hello it's Yoko Yoko desu   Hello it's Yoko Yoko desu Purchase an old-fashioned telephone Place your tongue in a number hole Taste the dust Or if you like...

      Jesus Spends Some Time at the Circus Freak Show He feels at home with the others. None of them cast stones. All of them grow flowers. Jesus climbs the few steps to the pool, pauses on the edge, looking down. This time it’s just for his friends. He...

      We Play Rock-Paper-Scissors Every evening at the care home, I pull in two armchairs til they’re facing. Opposites, we never fist bump, high-five or touch each other’s vying outstretched fingers. The dictionary says this ancient game has many...

          Gayathiri Kamalakanthan is a Tamil poet and producer.Their play Period Parrrty will open at Soho Theatre later this year. Their debut novel-in-verse, Bad Queer, is forthcoming with Faber. gayathiri.co.uk, @unembarrassable.  ...

      Swing Beam Assembly Take eight each of hex bolts washers, locks... it’s important to fasten these tightly. There’s a spanner you can borrow. Set the beam so the edge with holes faces up without holes faces down secure the rails. And now...

      Glimmers Things have been rough lately. It seems impossible now, as the breeze relieves us and we silhouette peacefully under the evening beams kicking the dust as The branches wave on wands in the skyscape I wonder how I’ve cried so much When I...

Watching, January 2021 The new year slouches forward, unlovable, barely acknowledged but for tired, gritty eyes and a muffled scream into the kitchen towel. Pale moonlight streams through the blinds, watching the night in shiftless wakeful patterns, patience hardening...