Today’s choice

Previous poems

Simon Williams

 

 

 

Hummingbird Hawk Moth

What were these fairies called
before we knew of hummingbirds?
Bumblebee moth because of the size?
Reed-nose moth because of the proboscis?

I fancy Garden-sprite, Hoverling,
tiny Vanguard from the Realm of Humm,
Flit-wing, Pixy peregrine, Flutter-at-the-fuchsia,
Be-gone-before-you-know-it.

Hummingbirds are known to tweak hairs
for their nests, right from your head.
Hair would be too heavy, here.
Spider-thread is all these imps could steal.

 

 

Simon Williams (www.simonwilliams.info) has been writing since his teens, when he was mentored at university by Roger McGough and Pete Morgan. His first collection was published in 1981. Since then, he has had eight further books and his 10th, The Pickers and Other Tales, from Vole, was published in February 2024. Simon was elected The Bard of Exeter in 2013.

Ruth Lexton

The new year slouches forward, unlovable,
barely acknowledged but for tired, gritty eyes
and a muffled scream into the kitchen towel.

Dharmavadana

She barely glances at you when you chink
your spare coins in her upturned cap, but still
spreads a spell among the pavement footfalls,

Tim Dwyer

      Shedding Annamakerrig It begins high up the chestnut tree with leaves on the twigs on the tips of branches where sap has slowed. Turning amber carried by the breeze they touch the earth, rest on the grass where autumn begins   Tim...