Today’s choice
Previous poems
Afolabi Ezra
The Day Nothing Happened
It was a quiet day—
no bad news,
no sudden loss,
no reason to hold my breath.
I didn’t notice it at first,
how rare that is.
The sky stayed where it was,
the ground didn’t give way,
my phone remained silent
in the best possible way.
I drank water
without thinking about survival.
I laughed
and didn’t have to explain why.
It felt almost suspicious—
like peace was something borrowed,
something that might be taken back
if I looked at it too closely.
So I didn’t.
I let the day pass through me
unchallenged,
unquestioned—
and only later realized
it had been a gift
I almost ignored.
Afolabi Ezra
Abby Crawford
When I was born
the house was full
of stones, an old blacksmiths shed.
Rachael Clyne
And if a land loses its people and they
are exiled will a land feel their absence
Tom Nutting
They have been burying us,
not realising
we were seeds
of revolution.
Emily A. Taylor
I move my hand long
so yours will follow, and though
this moment tastes of tequila soda
paracetamol pillowed on a fizzing tongue
amnesia… pull me in anyway.
Steph Morris
No way would they let him keep that tag. They saw
a boy they must rename, must mark
from them, a boy whose limbs folded far too gently,
Eryn McDonald
It is here that the day breaks apart
Like ice on frustrated frozen pond
Here in the grounds of Ashton Court
I wish to bury myself amongst the green
Gordan Struić
Outside,
the city slides by,
blurred lines
of glass and rain.
Stephen Keeler
The days were huge and kind
and sometimes after school
we’d buy a bag of broken biscuits
for the long walk home
across the heavy heat of afternoon
on lucky days she wouldn’t take
the pennies offered up in supplication
Joseph Blythe
I swear I felt the swirly patterned paper
rip from the walls of my childhood bedroom.
It was the same stained cream shade as my skin –
pockmarked, cut and scabbed, dry and peeling…..