by David K Asamoah That hour their song, to my own ears, will playAnd I am left alone bound to the mast,By my own will, to hear the words at last –Before to madness I should waste awayI hope to know what seaside muses sayThat’ve pushed so many sailors in the pastTo the deep ocean […]
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by David K Asamoah We are as planets in the starry domeMoving in unique orbits through the void,Though the same sky, in different heavens we roamAs different hells for us have been employedOften in the late hours of day one findsTheir focus lost in twilight’s bold displayAnd endless thought puts one in many mindsFor many […]
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by Chloe Jacobs I wonder if my mother, younger, Hair bleached summer blonde And smelling, strong, of chlorine, Ever pictured this. This cold place,That borrowed home, Her careful calculus of living. They say you give a part Of yourself, to your child.Inventory: eyes, nose, lips, fear,Hands like mine hand them to me.Perhaps this is why […]
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by David K. Asamoah Oh starry night, I look at you and swoonEnchanted by your ever constant gaze Your numberless glowing orbs watch o’er the ruin Of sleeping souls held in a somnolent haze Not all are blessed to lose into that scent Some run past dawn and miss that gorgeous highBut while the odour […]
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by David K. Asamoah Those eyes tell not a story rich and grand Like pompous bards of epic poetry old Nor do they orate odes to bright morns gold Those dark depths whisper of a starry land And on the fateful odyssey unplanned My soul took to the dreamy waters wellHoping to leave with chronicles […]
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by David Asamoah A thousand suns had come and gone before himWhat made this one so special? So enchanting That even now he’d sit and wait adoring The golden light shine on the stream, and dancing Pebbles swirl in the low tide returning To kiss the worn out coast. On that still morning The sky […]
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by David Asamoah Their dark thoughts are eclipsed by blinding love For her sweet soul, it’s all their hearts can see As martyr’s sights are fixed on realms above And reason dies to set their chained thoughts free There’s no shame in that trip to martyrdom As in their wills, for her their hearts have […]
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by David Asamoah Potent’s the fruit of poisonous affection Yet so fragrant a scent it does possess Love’s filter warps old flaws to new perfection Augments mere brushes to a soft caress Such passion feeds upon the human mind As hearth embers devoùr firewood And of the ripened dreams Eros does find He then extorts […]
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by David Asamoah Please pity me, I bear a thinker’s rage For Sleep and all her sweet unconscious charms How I have dreamt to be held in her arms To end Day’s chapter on Night’s unmarked page Please comfort me, for waking worries wage Chaos upon my mind no comfort calms Though thoughts of […]
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by David Asamoah Fortune’s a gentle breeze lost in life’s storm Whose guiding breaths often keep me afloat I fear those breaths will stop being the norm And give cruel Neptune time to flex and gloat I steer the wheel yet move as fate allows My destiny feels out of my control Is it […]
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by Aidan Chivers A mayfly, dancing through her only spring, Explores her meadow, bathing in the light Of sunbeams passing through her dappled wing Which flutters on her maiden, carefree flight. Some fleeting words float through the dying breeze – She flutters […]
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by David Asamoah No longer do they fear the dawn of night Or shudder at the absence of the sun No day lasts without end but it’s begun In the small hours of morn promising light During the noon, the sun stands its full height And sombre thoughts of evening are slewn With […]
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by Aidan Chivers The sleepless moonlight dusts the tops of trees, And tastes a calming scent upon my lips Which curls around my outstretched fingertips And drifts, like fleeing dreams, along the breeze. From dusky monochrome I turn away – I step inside, try in the darkness not to choke, And seek within this […]
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by Aidan Chivers As I wait for my train I watch thoughts and strangers roam In two centuries of litter where I stop and bathe my mind; I trace the seats, the tracks, the stars, to see, or maybe find A moment for myself in this place they’ve all called home. I step across […]
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by Peter Gent ‘You cannot pass,’ said he, despite his foe. Then all the Orcs stood still among the stone; Retreated eight, dead silence fell, and woe. No fellowship-for Gandalf’s will alone Did face the Balrog’s dreams when he did leave His morbid home and search a higher life. ‘No pass,’ said Gandalf, ‘shall you […]
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Following Mr Hull valiantly hoping to extort a change in his poetic style, Mr Turnbull (Poetry Editor) formally makes his response: The Poetry Editor’s Response To those who, with the lance of liberty And shield of confidence, are hoping I May overcome ‘Rhyme’s ancient tyranny,’ I must make my response and ask them, why? Why […]
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Rory Turnbull (Poetry Editor) has been criticised of late for writing nothing but sonnets. As Matthew Hull sets forth in his polemic treatise: So Rory Turnbull writes in sonnet form? And doth to write in other forms refuse? For “poorer poets write in multiform Barbaric meters which no structure use. There is no room for […]
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A Shakespearian Sonnet Translation by Jade Tinslay J.V In bygone days thy love I held alone and thought it ever would to me belong. I spurned thy company and will atone thy face I could not count in beauty’s throng. Alas, another sought thee at first sight, ’tis past the hour for me to gaze […]
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by Rory Turnbull A human need ensures that we shall leer At Fortune’s favours, others’ joys unreal; And yet, when others too begin to jeer At our denuded privacy, we feel The need to curse, to curse computers then. We mourn how emails pester us until Our fingers always fix themselves again Upon our phones, […]
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by Rory Turnbull How to begin? How do we make a start? With all those expectations driving me To take my turn and try to play my part In writing something, somehow, easily, I do not know; I know not what to write, Since I’m ungifted, and in rhyme untaught. ‘Fain would I, but I […]
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This entry came 2nd place in the Oriel Writing Awards: Poetry Category for the year 2015. *** Sonnet – by Kat Wood Earth lies as barren as dry winter air, Corsets of concrete and brick pin her down, Jealous of radiance, features so fair, Workmen are covering her with a gown. Not one of autumn leaves, dew drops […]
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The Poor Print 