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    Andrew McDonnell writes poetry and short fiction. His debut collection The Somnambulist Cookbook (Salt) was published in 2019. He lives in Norwich but works in Peterborough to ensure a long commute in which he can write things that are not emails.  ...

      Point Nemo And once more you descend like captain Nemo to the depths of the planet’s tears. Torch in hand, you search the silty sea floor for any signs of life in the bleach-white corals. You search to the solo choir of a sperm whale echoing...

      You should never be disappointed by weather You should never be disappointed by weather, just accept it for what it is, it won’t lie to you or let you down. It’ll tell you, just by looking at it: you need a brolly, or a sun hat. Pack the factor...

      Grease 2 the sidewalks are shoveled but there you are in the middle of the road as always you trudge through a river of maple syrup and the delivery truck comes ever closer   Robert Beveridge (he/him) makes noise (xterminal.bandcamp.com) and...

      Lampedusa  I know this is risky and that I will probably lose the boat, but the shipwrecked on board are exhausted, I will bring them to safety.  Video released by Sea-Watch, Guardian   For the 43 souls waiting in the port; for lampas the torch,...

      circumference words do not suit do not fit the towns i travel to i’ve this habit of locating new neighbours with different physiognomies * always there are uniforms on the march intractable comic heroes in animal disguises      i say very little i...

      Alone at the New Road Hotel He is right to suspect me of  infidelity, there will be other rooms, there have been rooms before. At the old textile factory turned hip hotel, in Whitechapel’s tatty bravado, as the brutal heat is sucked from the day...

      A Jar of Honey Would Give the Poem Away instead let’s ponder the idea    stay silent let the flowers of the fields come into your vision lavender   thyme   verbena breathe in their scents    let them speak to your senses    tease your nostrils   ...

      Now She can't remember why she started recording their FaceTime calls. Now, when she's lonely, she scrolls through this small library of conversations and chooses one. It took a whole February weekend to transcribe and learn her lines before...

      The Act Summer began with a bike, its frame painted red, one thin wheel. The focus was balance, hours of clinging to walls and doors; fences and fingertips, pigtails and ears. It became about a clown; greasepaint mouth sadways striped dungarees,...

      Ballet audition Bent, a teapot, arthritic neck its handle, lips protruding from the spout she’s irked because I fail to retain the enchaînements. She sees a lazy teen – she doesn’t see a girl walking London each night, imagining death more...

      45rpm heart block is a slowness or abnormality in the heart’s rhythm due to a fault in its electrical conduction system. tread wrong here and the needle jumps — skrt-skrt-skrt. iggy pop plays the songs on christmas day, picks from discs wrinkled...

      Portrait of a country   What is your country in a definition? When the first ship anchored on the shore of the Atlantic. My country became an experiment of - forced marriage. As with guns, plough and religious wars, they wedded three adults...

      Memory of Water  When you told me once that grief comes in waves, were you referring to your own death? All of us still living trying to dissect our own meaning as if it were pooled in our hands, slipping through the cracks of our fingers. Perhaps...

      Alanis Morissette small dark speck on the window looks at me says you are lonely small dark speck on the window laughs says you are surrounded by joy small dark speck on the window stares at me how it stares small dark speck on the window refuses...

      Golden Shovel after Gwendolyn Brooks ‘We real cool’ A tribute to Khadija Saye 1992 – 2017 Gambian-British artist and photographer She bubbles laughter and we are captivated, caught by real joy in her happiness. So cool – I’m an artist! Rock my...

      I want/do not want my daddy He is screaming and crying and wants Me and doesn’t Want me And is not sore and does not want medicine But does not want to stay In bed or get out of bed or go Downstairs or to the window And wants me to go away and...