Today’s choice

Previous poems

Helen Akers

by | Jan 21, 2026 | ,

 

 

 

Window of tolerance

we’re trying to construct a frame for this
highly reactive impulsive emotion
the nurse is looking into it     meanwhile
we must find something cold to hold    lick it
we’re trying to expand the tolerance – think
of a moth thumping at the window     imagine
a pane     adjustable along the diagnosis
for excessive information’s tiny racing heart
to be  processed     a bullseye window    pivoted
on the horizontal with cunning joints
at either end allowing it to open      let it fly
it’s a lovely day if you like lovely days

 

 

Helen Akers lives in North Norfolk. She is working on a collection of poems which explore the experience of bipolar disorder from the carers’ perspective. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia.

Rachael Davey

by | Feb 4, 2024 | ,

That particular, chemical clarity,
sun into blue, ripples on the ceiling.

Rare days when water rests
between the ropes, unbroken . . .

Chrissy Banks

by | Feb 2, 2024 | ,

. . . Yes, I’ve tasted pomegranates
and I know what they do. The sense of vertigo:
happily dizzy at first, as if you’ve downed
a bottle of Shiraz or Merlot. You live by night . . .

Karen Luke

by | Jan 31, 2024 | ,

My sister’s father wound is the flush cut
on the bark where she lost her foothold
and fell,
the trunk burning red between her thighs
all the way down the tree to the ground…