Today’s choice
Previous poems
Alex Scarborough
Hiking
I measure distance in Spotify playlists
so I can’t be trusted with maps.
How long until this becomes
exhausting?
You pace out the metres and minutes,
you take three steps ahead as I want to ask
if the ridges in your face would soften
knowing you’d get there faster
without me.
Instead I point out the waterfall
pass you an earbud.
Alex Scarborough is a poet from Hertfordshire. He studied songwriting at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance and is currently working on his first poetry pamphlet. His work is forthcoming in Cacti Fur (February 2026).
Lesley Burt
a conch found in hot white sand
on the shoreline at Sanur Beach
a Fibonacci whorl
among morning offerings
Annie Acre
i am sun-shot / green-beamed / stem-steep /
hands cupfuls of heartlines / conjuring water
Jennifer Cole
take your wedding ring
or it might get “disappeared”
Eithne Longstaff
On the road to Belfast today, I failed
to recognise my father. I saw a flamingo
by the Tamnnamore turn off, but paid
little regard as it took off…
Mark O’Connor
At half a tonne in weight
It was like the anchor –
Michael Mintrom
They lie deep in a forest, wounds
unseen, unhealed. Further back,
an escarpment with dark scars.
Thea Smiley
There’s a hiss as he eases himself in
to the green pool, steam in his smoky hair.
Roger Bonner
It’s forbidden to call it war.
We’re here to liberate you;
ignore the glide bombs as they roar.
Maryam Seyf
You and I sit
facing each other
in dialogue
across the table