Today’s choice

Previous poems

Mark McDonnell

by | Aug 1, 2026 | ,

 

 

 

First Funeral

Fascinated by the priest’s teeth I don’t realise
I’m kicking the pew in front with a restless foot
until someone taps me sharply on the knee.

I’m near the coffin on its trestles and a plaster Jesus
whose wounds shed drops of hard shiny blood.
I think he looks a bit disappointed in me.

Perhaps he wants me to Be Brave like Him
and not to make things worse for everyone.
I’m not sure if I should cry. I can see

my father is crying and I know that’s
because, He’s lost his soul mate;
that’s what Fr. Stephens told my auntie.

 

 

Mark McDonnell sings, writes and teaches English to refugees.  He used to manage a pharmaceutical company and then a counselling charity.  He has had worked published in a wide variety of journals during the last four years.  See www.instagram.com/mcdonnellpoet5135  and https://www.facebook.com/mark.mcdonnell.9231/

Francis de Lima

by | Jul 22, 2026 | ,

Oh London. U useless city. Map to

                                                                        nowhere land. Tight stretch 

                                                                        open eye. The underground metal. 

The night tube. The railway. Smog

Over coaltrip. The presence

                                                                          Of machine upon machine. U

Miriam Swales

by | Jul 21, 2026 | ,

When I was 12, I knew the weight of a human head.
8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (a bit of dark comedy).
It grew from there. The curiosity. The calculations.

Annie Kissack

by | Jul 15, 2026 | ,

      Girl Awaits the Psychic Investigators They’re late. The table is laid with a clean cloth, all normal and neat. Our visitors, city men, may find it hard to navigate the path but we can wait. They hope to gather evidence of a haunting; whether he’ll...