Today’s choice
Previous poems
Winifred Mok
Wildflowers
No one has ever told me to
Go back to where you came from
Perhaps it’s because
I look like
I’m just passing through
They know I know
I don’t look like I belong here
I fall into the category of guest
The perpetual rambler
A forever tourist
All’s fine: roaming landscapes
Of poppy, cornflower, ox-eye daisy
The native ecology of
Where I might have come from
Versus where I want to be
Winifred Mok is a poet, filmmaker and podcaster. Based in the UK, her writing has appeared in various publications, and her poetry has been shortlisted for the Bridport Poetry Prize.
Note: Some wildflowers that are considered ‘native’ are actually neophytes — a plant introduced into an area relatively recently and has since become naturalised (in the context of the UK and Europe, this is defined from 1492).
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
Kerry Darbishire
Imagine a spring day drawing out possibilities
the newness of life, sisters in long skirts digging
tangled ground, breaking bones and loam wild
Paul Chuks
Newton didn’t discover gravity
The apple did.
Lola Dekhuijzen
the window is a derivative landscape
painting: streaks of blue for a sky,