Gabriel Gudding Surreal-Absurd Sampler
“If art partly functions by pulling us out of our common habits of perception, maybe it necessarily offers a foretaste of the way the real will transgress against itself in crime, catastrophe, and accident: poetry's untidiness seems to adumbrate the unvraveling of everything…”
Walk in the Dark
An essay on walking at night through London, a city that has always been loved by nocturnal ramblers and insomniacs, of which Dickens is only the most famous.
Audrey Hepburn’s ‘Moon River’
When I was a kid, “Moon River” was part of the atmosphere. For several years in the early sixties it was ubiquitous, a persistent favorite on middle-of-the-road radio and on TV variety shows, de rigueur for every “pop” singer, one of those grownup survivors in a rock & roll world.
Whale Therapy
“There comes a point when you will try anything. Harriet described herself as a whale therapist and said she would use techniques associated with these giant sea mammals to ease my anxieties. It seemed like a reasonable idea – I'd heard of equine therapy – so I turned up at a large detached house on the Loop Road in Whitehaven and waited for my instructions.”
Beachcombing
These prose poems express the mess of hope, fear, memory, longing and, above all, uncertainty that’s left behind when the desiccated three-word slogan of our brave new soundbite world has been tossed away.
Broken Blues
Two poems
Terrestial Zodiacs in Britain
Terrestrial, or landscape, zodiacs have always been at the outer edge of antiquarian studies, and remain the eccentric uncle of that trendier activity, psycho-geography. Disdained by the orthodox, they prompt questions about how we interact with the numinous in certain landscapes, and about the potency of occult symbols.
Exercise in Controlled Harmonic Observance
This text score is inspired by and in the spirit of Pauline Oliveros and her concept of Deep Listening.
Visual Pantoums
Visual and concrete poetry is often less linear than written poetry, more like a collage or an abstract painting, which you can start and finish anywhere within the frame. These, on the other hand, are collages which use ‘lines’ and ‘stanzas’, so you might want to start at the top left and work your way down to the bottom right.
Ghetty Gospel by Isaac Harris: Reviewed by Pippa Sterk
Pippa Sterk reviews Isaac Harris Ghetty Gospel (Good Press, 2022)
Dreamscape
“Dreamscape” comes from a strange dream, the principal recollection of which was an image of a woman in white cotton summer togs who lies alone on a white field. She becomes a symbol for something beyond herself.
Tirana
A short story by Andew Hart.
The Poem as a Spell in EP Jenkins’ Rituals (Broken Sleep Books) by Katy Mack
Katy Mack reviews EP Jenkins’ debut collection, Rituals (Broken Sleep Books, 2002).
Nine Eagles and the Silvery Water
Zadif presents their debut, alchemy-inspired album. These gentle, contemplative songs recall British and Spanish folk sounds with a touch psychedlia.
Local Nature Devas
The energy of the plants in the park near my home has a visionary quality. The nature devas appear. They radiate a soft, peculiar luxury, with distinct characteristics sculpted from light. Waves of light, wind blown fields of light.
Beneath the Pavement
Ever since I was a teenager, friends and family and teachers and civil servants have told me that I think too much. I overthink, they all said, which made me think. People have used other terms to describe my condition – several doctors, for example, have called it anxiety.
Life, Love & Gay Inhibitions In The Noughties
I suppose I'm an old romantic at heart. Even though I should know better, I still adhere to the old school notion of 'true love'. I tried deeply to dismiss it - telling myself it was all too complicated and that I couldn't possibly put my body through the angst that comes with it. It didn't work.
An Obituary Explanation
Death is a diabolical diamond, only beautiful when you examine its facets. These poems tell stories about death from the perspective of people who deal, not just with the realities of vacancy, but the truth about the (temporary) survivors.
A Star of Television and the Silver Screen
A new story by Douglas Cowie: “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re particularly pleased to have a special guest flying with us today, star of television and the silver screen—” And here he said the name of some actor, or actress, I supposed, but I couldn’t be sure because it sounded muffled, or at least I didn’t understand. A few people clapped. Heads began to turn around, looking for this celebrity, although why they thought he or she would be sitting back in economy class, I don’t know.
Water vapour hangs like memory in the air: a review of Alton M. Dapanas’ Towards a Theory on City Boys (Newcomer Press) by Cat Chong
Cat Chong reviews Alton Dapanas’ autotheoretical prose poems, Towards a Theory on City Boys (Newcomer Press).
The never-ending quest…
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