Big Sounds, by Kerenza Peugniez

by | Jun 27, 2025 | Issue 9 poems

I want to learn the Double Bass! Big Granddaddy of the strings. I’d grunt and growl and scrape and scowl And play the deepest things! I want to learn the Contrabassoon! The size of a rocket ship. It farts and parps and plops and honks, Each note I’d just let rip! I...

You Must Be This Tall, by Stefanie Salyer

by | Jun 27, 2025 | Issue 9 poems

That thin black line has been my nemesis for a decade. It has taunted me from above. High and condescending as I rise on tiptoes but still come up short. I almost had it last year. The crown of my head broke past the barrier until someone shouted, “Flat feet!” I sank...

The Planets are on Holiday, by Ian Brownlie

by | Jun 27, 2025 | Issue 9 poems

Mercury’s seeking speedy thrills on Orlando’s fastest rides Venus loves the cloudy Himalayan mountainsides Earth’s the life and soul of a party in Capri Mars has gone to Egypt to bob about in the Red Sea Jupiter’s baggage weighs it down on a tricky Outback stroll...

Nature, by Linda Middleton

by | Jun 27, 2025 | Issue 9 poems

This poem begins with a quotation by John Ruskin “Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty.” Nothing is beyond her fresh, age-old hands: she scatters silvery stars across watercoloured oceans and inky midnight skies and chalks the feathery...

Skyscrapers, by Tabitha Brewer

by | Jun 27, 2025 | Issue 9 poems

Went to London for the first time last weekend, you know that big city on that big river supposedly the capital Whatever that means Dad had to go there for work said it would be good to “see the sights” and boy, did we see the sights Now, don’t get me wrong I had a...