The air is suddenly sweet-smoked and humming,
and I’m back in the incense-wreathed
Lanes of 90s Brighton
Tag: writing
FICTION | The Signmaker — David Hartley
They have agreed that this is an emergency. Signs need not be heeded in an emergency, they’re quite sure.
TWO POEMS – Billie Manning
The plane goes to the gym every morning
before work and holds that plank.
TWO POEMS – Carl Griffin
Now I’m a chrysalis,
neither caterpillar boy
nor butterfly man.
COMFORT FOODS // On Rissóis — Samantha Denny
Fried dough dishes are a universal constant.
THREE POEMS – Livia Franchini
The colour revealed itself like crab meat
only a wound, something to lick clean
ONE POEM – Elizabeth Chadwick Pywell
I imagined the horse bolting so it did,
skidded along the canyon’s edge while I watched.
ONE POEM – Rebecca Wheatley
She would never allow a condiment
without a saucer or a spoon,
tea without a pot,
a pop sock and skirt.
ONE POEM – Anna D’Alton
She travels the world, storms the Venice Biennale, exhibits at the Guggenheim, Tate, Pompidou – you name it, parties with the grimy glitterati in LA, Madrid, São Paulo, breaks a Sotheby’s sale record and dazzles the fawning curators and collectors at every chandeliered benefit dinner.
COMFORT FOODS // After the surgery my body longs for by Janet Bi Li Chan
gluey congee cooked with
yellow ginger
salted pork
thousand-year-old eggs
constantly stirred to make sure
it doesn’t stick to the bottom
COMFORT FOODS // A Tamalada by M.A. Dubbs
Mom’s in charge and tells us to watch how it’s done,
tucking and folding
until she holds above our heads, like a baptized child,
our exemplar tamale
“Just like that!” ¡Perfecto!
TWO POEMS – Salvatore Difalco
You reached for the branch
without looking at me as I
signalled you to back away,
to veer away from the tree,
where a snake in full makeup
had hit its mark, awaiting a cue.
Porridge 