Today’s choice
Previous poems
Jim Ferguson
the universe in her face
she said she was a teller of stories
her name was elspeth, elspeth davie
it was so strange to meet her
in the dark tunnel beneath the liffey
cold we were, the both of us
coatless and unwashed
a hot shower would be delicious
she said, and i agreed
ripe we were, the both of us
a smell of ages clinging
no restroom for miles
and our luggage still missing
alas like garlic eaters
we did smell good together
elspeth radiant faced
electric eyes and smile
let’s sit, she said
began to tell her tale ─
we set sail upon her words
spotless in our new clothes
we can travel anywhere
she winks, but let’s rest here
in amongst these words
a moment can take a while
Jim Ferguson is a poet and prose writer based in Glasgow. Jim has been writing and publishing since 1986 and is presently a Creative Writing Tutor at Glasgow Kelvin College in Glasgow’s East End.
www.jimfergusonpoet.co.uk
Peter Bickerton
The gull
on the meadow
taps her little yellow feet
like a shovel-snouted lizard
dancing on a floor of lava
Lydia Harris
ask this place
ask the silver day
the steady horizon
the self-heal the buttercup
the hard fern in the ditch
ask the bee and the tormentil
Seán Street
Dogs in spring park light
pulled by intent wet noses
through luminous grass
Becky Cherriman
What does it wake me to
as sky is hearthed by morning
and my home warms slow?
Mark Carson
he dithers round the kitchen, lifts his 12-string from her hook,
strikes a ringing rasgueado, the echo bouncing back
emphatic from the slate flags and off the marble table.
Elizabeth Worthen
This is how (I like to think) it begins:
night-time, August, the Devon cottage, where
the darkness is so complete . . .
Elly Katz
When naked with myself, I feel where a right elbow isn’t, then is. I let my left palm guide me through the exhibition of my body.
Laurence Morris
The night of his arrest I climbed a hill
to find a deep cave in which to hide
Sarp Sozdinler
As a kid, Nehisi used to sleep in a treehouse. He could curl right into it from his bedroom window. He would have a hard time falling asleep every time his parents got loud or physical.