Fledge

I look at the array of talent that Maytree Press have in their 2019 list, at the hint of things to come in 2020 and I feel incredibly proud (as well as a little nervous) that my stuff will feature alongside poets like Maria Isakova Bennett, Hannah Stone, Tim Taylor, Katerina Neocleous, Kayleigh Campbell, Nick…

Bonnie’s Crew #5 – October 2019

Originally posted on Bonnie's Crew:
Welcome to the October issue of Bonnie’s Crew. In this issue we have a fortune cookie that encourages free will, a rowan tree, a guitar, poems by medical professionals and therapists, a long poem about a ska band, and much more besides. Trigger Warning/Content Note for: hospitals, death, bereavement, baby…

Elegy For A Peevish Bee

Elegy For A Peevish Bee by Jonathan Humble Temper rising, she becomes a blur of business, works at glass and frame, vents a blast of angry wings in search of phantom gaps or phased matter. Close outside, snapdragons sway encouragingly, zinnias gesture from plastic boxes beyond the window, rays of light refract, reflect and raise…

A Little Bit Of Jam In Marsden

Moan, moan, moan … Apologies to all who witnessed the outburst of self-pitying drivel that appeared here a few days ago, complaining about being left dangling by certain publications, a forgotten sloe on an inaccessible blackthorn bush where local blackbirds have decided to go on a sloe-free diet and passing hikers have their minds on…

Submissions #poetry

A question or perhaps a short rant … I wonder if there is something wrong with my e-mail because on the last few occasions I’ve made poetry submissions to various publications, acknowledgement that they’ve arrived safely and will be considered in due course has not happened. The fact that such notifications have been absent over…

Maytree, Marsden and All That Poetry Jazz

Last week in the run-up to National Poetry Day, I went to Carlisle to appear on Radio Cumbria’s Arty Show and discuss matters poetic with Darren Milby and Polly Atkin. I did the usual thing and took a wrong turn while driving, sailing past the junction I was meant to go down and ending up…

Dandelion Sun

Dandelion Sun by Jonathan Humble A child’s sun finds a dream in young eyes.In blinks of dandelion eclipses,refracted light reflects on retinasholding warmth in ragged leavesbelow a flower standing up and out. Ryegrass and foxtail for company,a golden head of petals,swaying and slight,is there and gone and there again. The wings of friends unfold to…