Today’s choice

Previous poems

Paul Stephenson

 

 

 

Attraction

Like one of those horses
on the carousel

going round and round in circles
sliding up and down a pole

for three minutes
then stopping a while

then starting again
for three minutes

sliding up and down a pole
in circles going round and round

on the carousel
like one of those horses

going round and round in circles
sliding up and down a pole

for three minutes
then stopping a while

then starting again
for three minutes

sliding up and down a pole
in circles going round and round

on the carousel
like one of those horses

 

Paul Stephenson’s debut collection is Hard Drive (Carcanet, 2023), shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award and Polari Book Prize. His last pamphlet was Selfie with Waterlilies (Paper Swans Press, 2017). He recently co-edited the ‘Ownership’ (92) issue of Magma Poetry and helps programme Poetry in Aldeburgh. Website: paulstep.com

Sue Moules

Sings at the top of the bare-branched tree
an aubade to morning
welcomes the light,  
early spring, season of nest-making.

John Bartlett

mornings
I wake wary
of abundance
wondering why I’m still here
and then I recall
all the green leaves
with their hiding birds

Maya Little

I’m trying to stop thinking about what I want to not // be. Sometimes I have looked into my heart and found that // everything’s packed up.