Paramedics arrive. Give him a shot of Stemetil as he thinks of holding a match burning down to the pinch, of a …
Schlafwagen und Wunderkammer* (Richard James Allen)
(*German for ‘sleeper’ or ‘sleeping car’ and ‘cabinet of curiosities’ or ‘wonder room’) you are on the night train to Vienna and you have already arrived in Berlin you are …
Writing from Awe (Anne Walsh)
Ice Breaker I step onto ice I know will break but sometime it has to. …
A Nurse’s Meditations in the Sluice Room (Louise McKenna)
Your contempt is like a needle waved in my face. Do I distress you because I don’t wear stockings or an apron pinned below my breasts? Do I bother you …
Langkawi airport (Amy Hilhorst)
On the wall at gate 4 a Malaysian flag hangs sideways, lower rod displaced and scrunched at the bottom, where the stripes stretch furthest from the star. Couples compare passport …
YOU CAN BE CRUEL TO A BEE (Lizz Murphy)
With the open eave of her scarf she catches the tree snags blue winter Skylight ceiling of criss and cross In the naming of them colours empty of themselves …
Days of Wine and Bruises (Justin Lowe)
God Drinks at the Sandringham (from From Church to Alice, 1996) He usually comes to sit by me in the grainy light of 4 o’clock He will often sit on His …
Border Crossings (Nathanael O’Reilly)
I. Vienna to Brno As we cross the Danube and leave Vienna the guy on my left reads every article in Le Monde about the Paris terror. The girl on my …
water weight (Emily Crocker)
the Baptist plunged her delicate but thorough into the waves rinsing wine dregs from her glass stem core contaminating the ocean with thoughts it’ll never be big enough for us …
He’s Got Your Number, All Right (Kathryn Hummel)
I said: Sweetie, Baby— what were you thinking when you pulled out that double-headed match and stuffed it right back in the box? Honey! Child! As your Uncle I gotta …