“Passing through” and other poems by Betty Thompson

Balloons A stream of them - long and ribboning before they were inflated; breath-filled they turned into globes and cylinders: fat demi-lunes ably shaped by the long-fingered magician who, in his downtime offstage from the Hippodrome, relaxing by the fire, legs stretched across the hearth, would plunge those long hands into his pockets, to pull [...]

Poems from “Some Lives” by Leeanne Quinn

Cave of the Firbolg  (Nano Reid, oil on board) Not even a trespass of sky to compromise the dark  where blood beats in the body of the heart.  Nobody thinks, Why do we do this?  The nervous system ferries its thin shards of glass  down among the clay, where the blunt flint of the soul [...]

Grafted: Referendum 2018 and other poems by Ann Leahy

Making for Open Today she is learning to walk again. One month after a minor fall, my mother heaves and plants each foot in turn, toes dragging the hardwood floor. Her eyes are fixed ahead as far as they can go beyond her new walking frame, which she grips and shoves, elbows unbent, as if [...]

“A Life Unanswered” and other poems by Susan Kelly

The Bittersweet Her passion was historical biscuit tins or so he’d tell visitors who marvelled at the growing stacks of embossed lids that glinting with landscapes, landmarks locations she hadn’t seen, he thought it best if the world came to her. He liked her to display these gifts he brought back from places he visited [...]

“Viksdalen” and other poems by Fiona Smith

Shell shock   He built his laftehus in the old way, As it should be done, using cured wood, Beam on tremendous beam, an X joint With interlocking notches at the seam.   Sweating over plans, permits, rights of way. Helicopter drops in snow, cajoling The bureaucrats, architects, authorities. His wife, to just let him [...]