Past, Present, Future

Maytree Press As we mark the third anniversary of our first publication and look forward to the release of our thirty fifth book, we thought it would be a good excuse to celebrate all the wonderful collections we have had the privilege to work on over the past few years and offer you a little…

Silly Folk

I knew a very silly boywho wouldn’t brush his teeth.His breath stank like a pile of fishwith old socks underneath. His sister was a little dim;she once ate a balloon.She took off in a force ten galeand landed on the Moon. Their father had no common sense.He left his wife quite flustered;she couldn’t stop him…

Early Mornings With Arthur

I always wake early. Alarm clock set for 6:00 am, I’m conscious by 5:30. A quick visit to the bathroom, then down to the kitchen, where Arthur the dog blinks as I turn on one small light which triggers mad tail wagging and a luxurious stretch out of his dishevelled bed. Arthur gets a breakfast…

I have become Patience Strong …

Why bind the days inside that self-embrace? Alight, a life should shame the brightest star; refuse the mask that hides a truthful face. Imperfect lines in faith do not disgrace when claimed as fact and owned for what they are. Why bind the days inside that self-embrace? Deny all ignorance a growing space. Offended eyes…

Simon Armitage … Magnetic Field Recordings #3

Hello World! Poet Laureate Simon Armitage gets out of his shed and reads Kitchen Window from his latest poetry collection Magnetic Field, in his weekly broadcasts from Marsden village … … when does a village become a town? #AskingForAFriend P.S. I miss the shed …

Cornerstone by Nic Evennett

Beautiful work

Secrets of Men

Perched on a milestone, Spy considered offers from fylgjur, haunting woods like fox wraiths. Night worn as a cloak, tired bones aching under breeze ruffled feathers, his conspiracy betrayed by brother silhouettes circling in tempered moonlight. Revealed by flecks of white in beads of jet, he watched ghost clouds drift like lost leaves, disturbing stars…

ellipsis …

I have taken the plunge and requested a reduction in teaching hours from September. From full-time class responsibilities, I will move to working two days a week in the next academic year. This arrangement will continue until I sink my teeth further into the bullet and retire from this profession altogether sometime around my sixtieth…

Amsterdam and all that jazz

After finishing for the summer break at school, I’ve just spent a few days in Amsterdam. We were staying at the Prinz Hendrik Hotel, just across the square from Amsterdam Central Station. The time was spent visiting museums, eating out and wondering what the strange smell was that pervaded most areas outside coffee houses, restaurants…

Andrew Motion

It’s 10 pm and I am just back from an evening at The Brewery Arts Centre where I have been listening to Andrew Motion read excerpts from Essex Clay, published this year by Faber & Faber. I walked into town and arrived half an hour early so that I could have a pint at the…

Rainbow Friday by JH

“I once knew this girl. Small like a mouse she was … big eyes. And colourful ribbons; dancing kite ribbons in the playground. Red one day, blue the next and rainbow ribbons Friday. Didn’t say anything in the uniform rules about it; no mention of ribbons. Nothing I can remember about how far the socks…

Poetry Update …

For all these highs and lows, the submitting of poems is highly addictive; this last weekend of the half term break, I’ve rattled off and sent a children’s dinosaur poem on the advice of a poetry friend, sent film poems to Magma/Edinburgh University and found two promising new publications where there’s a (small) possibility of…