by Horatio Saunders – Brasenose Chess Club (Board 2) ‘Trick or treat?’ they said,‘Trick’ you replied, so sure that all the same the treatwould be there, left by mum and dad,In the pumpkin,By the porch. ‘School or sleep?’ they said,‘Sleep’ you cried,Because the school calendar kept ticking by for whatseemed like a forever of unremarkable […]
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by Siddiq Islam I A bricklayer pleases his wife by inlayingA pattern of bricks in one wall of her store.The heavenly mural shows bright songbirds playingIn flowery fields by a soft honey shore. The King sees this gardenscape paradisaicAnd covets the beauteous brickwork mosaicSo calls for five thousand strong men to createA queue from the […]
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by EH, PL and RM how does it taste? he asks it tastes like coconut milk and thai paste now i must leave in great haste mybedtimeis9pm
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by Anonymous That moment – the suspension of breath – as green veins release and begin to wash the grey in gold. The sky arches, still aching with a lingering chill as winter seeps back under the ground and spring thinks of unfurling.
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by Siddiq Islam I wander down to Cowley Road To see where all the cows are stowed, But when I find no cows are there, They tell me I should look elsewhere. ‘How rubbishly they named’, I muse, ‘A cow-named road where no cow moos,’ But on I trudge to find the cattle, My own, determined, bovine battle. I think to […]
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by Lily Baughman You remain in the skin at my fingertips, neck Stained blue from your hair dye, Skin faded black Like your memory, edges blunted and Vignette When that one hangnail I pluck With my nylon teeth Grows back, it will do so Without knowing you, What it’s like to be Devoured, fissured, into […]
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by Melita Monemvasioti Waste not your breath in sighs Nor time in guilt Make haste! Anoint daughters with their parents tears Shroud women in their wedding suit And bury mothers in their children’s tomb. You’ve built a palace of sorrow and of gloom Armies of pestilence and doom, and now you cry? Make haste! I […]
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by HSE People I am sorry to: People I am not sorry to:
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by Yu Yan Years to come Cast foggy vagueness In the trembling heart. Tears Perch on the empty mind, Pushing forth burning memories. Hands Clutch the restrained passion, Robbed of the parting words. Dismissed as a shallow footstep Leading to predestined eventualities, The present Shines in the soul’s entirety. 将至之年在颤栗的心头倒映雾杳的朦胧 泪水在搁浅的思绪里栖居荡漾出炽热的回忆 双手紧扣矜持的眷恋难寻离别之语 无非是奔赴命定光阴的轻浅足印今朝闪熠在灵魂的每个角落
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by TMRH In this, I lock the time I spentGazing at your neck(From behind.)In this, I store the touch of your handRevealing your thoughts(Held in mine.)In this, I preserve an image of youDancing with your shoes untied(Yet not falling.)And in this, I keep a fleeting hueOf your scentWhen you bent(Over to me)Wish me goodnightAnd smile.
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by Yu Yan A Childplaying on the ground.An Adult comes,the castle collapses,she settles in another grassland.The school pronounces wronglyher name, and childrengiggling ask,Where are you from.Why? she says,I come from afar.She takes the train to dig upher lost snowman, only to finda hostile kingdomwhose entrance code has changed. Un Enfantjouant à même le sol.Un Adulte […]
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by Benjamin Elliot Nolan A bench stands alone We once sat there Me and you Then you turned to raspberry blue Do you even remember Happy days, dulcet decembers Us two sitting there In fumeur formation Now just you Those pretted eyes that I despise Does it taste the same Can you explain Coffee grounds […]
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by 席慕蓉 (Xi Murong), translated by Yu Yan 故乡的歌是一支清远的笛 总在有月亮的晚上响起 故乡的面貌却是一种模糊的怅惘 仿佛雾里的挥手别离 离别后 乡愁是一棵没有年轮的树 永不老去 Songs from my hometown are the silvery tinkling of a bamboo flute, always heard on the moon-adorned night. The landscape of my hometown, however, is the vagueness of a dejection, as if waving goodbye to me in a fog. After we part, […]
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by Vittorio P. Cuneo-Flood Darst thou accuse me of being a fool, If I hold to the truth: ’tis the same for us all. The gall! The cheek! That you would dare say: We live in a lie so there isn’t a way. Nay, I do not mind to disagree, But I can’t accept, that you are free To say […]
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by Siddiq Islam Pile up a few more eggs onto my plate. They lie there slopped among the ample meats. Another meal the same and never late, The yolks devoured. On my brute mouth eats. The camp is calm and peaceful, full of hate. How lovely next to bombed, imprisoned streets. What separates is nothing but a gate, My army and the […]
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by Tarquin Parry-Wingfield Sonnets speak of love, mine will speak of hate; Our relationship quickly went downhill, When you kindly began to defecate Both on and inside my two window sills. You know what you have done, you must feel smug; To make it worse, you litter your feathers; Did no one warn you that we all hate thugs? I am […]
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by Siddiq Islam Darst thou accuse me of incompetence, Of such patheticism? What nonsense! That I could not formulate out of nought What might be called an ‘Original Thought’, A concept that no other man has conjured, But when was the last time somebody wondered: How many iPhone chargers tall my mum is; If Hello […]
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by Emily Hudson and Rhienna Morar you werea pole with no flagand i was onthe oriel lawn against the rules — rupi kaur
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by Siddiq Islam They all would like to make me fitInto the standards they assert,But I cut my myself off from it,Even the labels on my shirt. I hike off to a far-field place,The sunshine rides upon my hair.They do not know. I left no trace.I killed my phone and left it there. Then music, […]
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by Anonymous Milk gliding down your throatlike powdered pearlsdelicate excrement groundsmooth and texturelessthick, filling, a plastic glovethat tastes of the moonthat final drop in a glassCircling around the bottomSpreading when tilted allover the surface, waxing toa crescent and then a fullmoon, gravity calling and the misty blue fadingand waning, from the edgesa translucent shadeholographic white,a […]
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by Joshua Freeman Bruits de transbordements blancs tels l’écume allante Voiture et bus prennent un air vif de goujon Les yeux rouges des grues observent ces poissons. Les clochers d’albâtre sont îles scintillantes Un urbain rivage, plein d’étoiles filantes Reflète les cieux, entouré de noirs monts. C’est un profond lac plein de constellations De loin […]
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by O Collopy The sweat drips down the coldRock face of my skin, collectingIn a pool at my feet as I scrawlBut then I look down as I thinkThat my shoes begin to overflowBut there I see three inches thickOf deep slimy liquid flooding andFilling the room, a fluffy carpetFloating at my ankles. This isNo […]
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by Leonard Shaw and Lo the gentle lantern leads me; swingingdown the quiet cobbles. A pale light singingfrom the flickering flame, guides me as I stumbledown the way.Although the unlit street’s a cool pretence,Surely buildings pass on either side, butDare I not to reach and stroke the brickwork.Lest this cold presumption’s no defence. So onwards […]
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Three Summers by Leonard Shaw non puntonibussoles non placet nostriscapti labore terror ob finemdocumenta moraticor iam sanatur solis occasusmembra calefactantesmox laboramus we are not in puntssunny days delight us notheld hostage by work panic for the endtutorials are delayedmy heart is now healed the sun is settingthough our bodies are warmersoon we work again
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by Siddiq Islam O a wondrous yestermorrow,Wrapped up with my missus Mono.Cuddles, nuzzles, hugs and kisses,Wrapped up with my Mono missus. But, next day, I’m fever’s captive.What has made me so reactive?Tossing, turning all night long.What has happened? What is wrong? Hearing Doctor’s diagnosis:‘You have Mononucleosis.Drink some water, get some rest,And stay away from me! […]
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by Siddiq Islam Leave mistakes from yesterday.Banish worries of tomorrow.Later we can dwell on sorrow.Just for now, put it away. What’s around you? Chairs? Buildings?Or are you in the forest yonder?God has put you where you wonder.Cherish this fact of all things. The people need you back again.How they miss your quiet beauty.Smile because it […]
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by Joshua Freeman Original (French) Faite de bon temps, de vieille pierre, d’émoiMa chambre n’est pas qu’un lieu d’escale sans vieIntarie, cette source est ma meilleure amieSous la voûte céleste elle est faite de bois La pluie résonne en moi comme un vieux souvenirSur l’alcôve le ciel joue une mélodieMa chambre est bien plus que […]
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by Jerric Chong In paradisum deducant te Angeli: They come now, those harbingers so bright, In tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres, Beckoning thee at the celestial gate: Et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem. ’Tis at unity with itself; gladly go thou in. But O what glories shalt thou then behold? Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat, […]
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by Leonard Shaw Alas! You know only the simple ways:For such a man the days fly and flitterFrom one week to the next,Till the term, the year, the life is o’er. Upon a passing fancy in the street or in a carriage,One can only wonder surely when the next may come to be.And yet the […]
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by Anonymous Lo! what a life for you, little bean,Left upon the plate otherwise so empty.You are so round and your juices so sweet,And yet your master let you not enter his lips. Wherefore did such a thing occur, little bean?Was your master in a rush for a 9am class?Or were you too much effort […]
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by Siddiq Islam,(1:48 am) Slumped on the hard edge of a long day,My tired arms spindle like crusty crab’s legs.My brain has dried out by now of things to say,Poking around at what’s left of the dregs. Tried eating, the heating, unplugging the buzzes,Tried not to feel through the weak mattress the springs,And I tried […]
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by Ayomikun Bolaji I dream of you — Damned sandman won’t stop spilling seeds about you.He knows that I yearn for you, breathe for you.The tugging in my heart’s apparently a hot topic in fairylandBut You have no idea what I’d give for you,Mountains I’d climb for you,Poems I could write for you- Rhyming ‘you’ with ‘you’ […]
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by Anonymous You say I can ask you anything,But not this: If love does not envy,Why do I? I ask though I know The answer. Your love is not meant for A lesser love, worthy of heaven but not earth,Heaven, where I’ll be made perfect,Cleansed of my sins, of the shardsOf the home I would have […]
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by The Grey Prince O what have we become,God of grace divine,When children on computers,In simulation, yearn for the mines? O what have we become?From the Lord’s path we stray,The shops once fifteen miles,Now fifteen minutes away. O what have we become,Blessed holy Lamb of God?The sky is far too clear;I miss the warming smog. […]
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by Anonymous Oh, how I envy the common woman,Free to let herself roam,Walking the world and its streets,Dogs out; feeling for a bone. But I cannot join her, this woman,On her quest to free her toes.Alas, I must keep them hidden.Hidden from friends and foes. For you see, gentle reader,With your sumptuous, brittle talons,I cannot […]
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by The Grey Prince Under that pernicious smileA gouda grin,To look upon your eyes,I am blacksticks blue,I long to be camembert,Shared together,My heart crumbles as Cornish cheddar,To chew on those delightful digits,Five counties,Jealously guarded by a leather cage,Doc Martens.
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by Anonymous To the girl across from me in the Rad Cam:You know well who you are;You thought I missed your quiet looks,But I hold them in my heart. ‘Maybe he’ll Oxfess me! Or pass a note –He’d have to be adroit!’No doubt you’re thinking, or daydreaming.I’m sorry to disappoint … ‘A Maccies date, then, […]
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by Siddiq Islam Lapworth. Megaloceros. Hanging on the wall like a giant freak.There’s something intense about all this debris,The coloured rocks and the dead fish in the cupboards. I’d hate to end up like them some day. Dusty. Preserved.Maybe I’d enjoy the attention,The little kids’ fingerprints on my glass,The bright museum lights washing over me. […]
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by Siddiq Islam I’d heard of His trials and temptations before, butHe didn’t just leave them out, peppered around.He crammed my tongue full with them, muzzled my jaws shutAnd tilted my head back to make them go down.So mad was I. This was the God I had followed,Lifting my tongue up to check that I’d […]
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by S. Hardaker limbs and flower stems seem oddly similar,branching and stretching and aching in their own ways;growing pains, a reminder of maturing. my legs are slowly giving way.i am 11,i am 15. i have stopped growing now,the legs say,you are stuck like this. the wind changed.a gust could whisk petals away,start a new bed. […]
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The Poor Print 