Author Archives: brihughespoet

III Wrapped in home-spun wool dyed king bolete yellow, I lift the curtain and enter the damp quiet of the under-canopy, seeking the medicine of bark and root. I trail fingertips over rips in the hemlock’s tree-skin at head-height. Warily, I move on to the gnarled majesty of a mature yew. Startled by the air-snapContinue reading “Emma Filtness: Extract from Spirit Bear”

The cat lives for perhaps fifteen years but don’t tell himthat / nothing is worse than a sell by date / we skiptowards the revolting tide / I wipe my mouth on yourlifestyle / do not wake in the middle of the climax / timeis alone and time is what / the sign at theContinue reading “Nikki Dudley: Mortality”

don’t go back never go back be miserable craftyvicious use honey thick words tempt the bitter& unloved with language to distract them fromthis corpse be dead inside accept the mark offlagellation grovel be penitent grateful you can die on a footpathfalling on the iceafter a freezing rainyou can die in your carout in some abandonedContinue reading “Amanda Earl: An excerpt from ‘Beast Body Epic’”

From inside the bedroom I choose when to appear. Baby says bye! as she closes the lid of the box, laughing, and ducks down within. The room inside the flat inside the block of flats inside the housing development is a protected space. The heart of the chokehold. The socks inside the sleeping bag insideContinue reading “Lydia Unsworth: Vague Desires to Set Up House”