Today’s choice
Previous poems
Tim Dwyer
Balancing
On the pitch of the roof
a jackdaw holds a twig
longer than its wingspan—
do corvids feel pride?
Balancing the weight,
the bird shuttles
from rooftop to rooftop
to join its partner.
They fly together
beyond my view
where their spring nest
is crafted.
Tim Dwyer’s debut full collection, Accepting The Call (templarpoetry.com), has won the Straid Collection Award. His poetry has appeared in Irish, UK and international journals and anthologies. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, he lives in Bangor, Northern Ireland.
Alex Stolis
It’s 16 below zero. Actual temp. We’re sole owners of the shore, windchill pushes it down to minus 36.
Ashia Mirza
Someone is taking a photo
at a wedding
of their baby
at a celebration.
Phil Vernon
These hills that look towards both weald and waves
hold – in their homesteads, fenced and open land,
trackways and contours – all that’s happened here
Sandra Noel
I’m sorry for the screeching and swearing we winter swimmers do.
Mike Duggan
A decapitated road sign
Spears the yellow verge,
Meaningless as a symbol
Of progress. A vain strut.
Sue Spiers
I wrote a metaphor using eel
for blue-light reflections in water
on a flooded motorway
Oenone Thomas
Because I don’t know any other way
I replace my left hand
with a hook, my feet
with jackhammers, both
my eyes with spangled
mirror balls.
Adele Evershed
Some Things My Mother Forgot to Teach Me (Before She Died)
A while ago I saw this prompt on Instagram
though I added ‘before she died’
because mine did—long before
anyway, I made a list
Sally Jenkins
Funny how Year 8 is doing bones
now, of all the weeks. In the prep room
we strip flesh off chicken wings