Today’s choice
Previous poems
Eileen Carney Hulme
Munitionettes
Yes I was a canary girl
who survived the accidents
the explosions, even the chemicals
didn’t poison me. For two pounds
per week, no health and safety
no goggles as we watched the slow
discoloration of hair and skin.
Long days, so very long
hard work, so very hard
and the noise, oh the constant noise
and the smells, they stayed with me, even now.
On nightshifts we would sing, laugh
in the face of death. Without us the army could not
have functioned. Later, no longer needed
we women were tossed aside.
Energised, determined, unafraid of the past, we welcomed
home husbands, fathers, sons and lovers. We no longer made
bombs, we made promises. From quiet skies we plucked
brightness, brush stroked with possibilities.
Day Six of ‘Wonder’ for NPD: Martin McKenna, Emma Dandy
it’s the end of the world and i choose
bottom shelf body wash, top shelf
shampoo. almost all the way over the
edge, i choose brand name bleach, leave
Day Five of ‘Wonder’ for NPD: Shanta Acharya, Sue Finch, Miriam Otto
I step into the darkness as the last light fades.
The stars are not there yet. The campfire gleams
in grey ash. And I am alone with the night.
Day Four of ‘Wonder’ for NPD: Rupert Loydell, Nick Cooke, Dave Hubble
Down the great hill we plunged,
not scared of picking up speed
because that was the point,
running fast as a horse.
Day Three of ‘Wonder’ for NPD: Math Jones, Jean Atkin, Kate Noakes
We’ll find the beach, but first through
the flowering wood, there’s celandine,
little suns of spring, casting.
Day Two of ‘Wonder’ for NPD: Geraldine Stoneham, Guinevere Clark and Annette Skade
I stop reading
but learn the alphabet again,
live on boiled eggs, phonetics,
broccoli heads
Day One of ‘Wonder’ for NPD: Philippa Greasley, Cindy Botha and Niklas Pettersson
Halfway to the island, the engine falters
and every cup trembles in its ring.
Emma Dandy
I’ve been staring at the blank page of this notebook for an hour. I close my eyes and breathe in for four, hold for four and out for eight, then repeat three times.
Ken Cockburn
We slept as best we could on the night train.
Leaving the station we walked empty streets
aimlessly until turning a corner
there it was, silent and vast as the moon.
Tim Dwyer
On the pitch of the roof
a jackdaw holds a twig
longer than its wingspan—
do corvids feel pride?