Mr Finicky’s Button Emporium, by Zoe Arena

by | Feb 25, 2023 | Issue 4 poems

Just a button? Just a button? What kind of button?! I’ve got… Metal buttons, glass buttons, wood buttons, brass buttons, Toggle buttons, brace buttons, pearl buttons, lace buttons, Popper buttons, horn buttons, new buttons, worn buttons, Leather buttons, gold buttons,...

Beautiful Boots, by Catherine Olver

by | Feb 25, 2023 | Issue 4 poems

You grip when I slip on my tall tree trip    up a staircase made of roots.You thump as I jump off the old oak stump    to land in my boots boots boots! You squeak but don’t leak when I cross cold creek    or peer in the pond for newts.You giggle, for the wiggle of the...

A Poem for Tony, by Annie Fisher

by | Feb 25, 2023 | Issue 4 poems

I walked with my friend in the bright summertime, we talked about poems, and rhythm and rhyme. We talked of his grandchild, his joy at the birth and a seed he had sown for him, deep in the earth. A poem’s a promise of harvests to come, the pip in the apple, the stone...

Grief is a House Guest, by Seetha Dodd

by | Feb 25, 2023 | Issue 4 poems

Grief is a house guest you can’t turn away. You struggle at first just to open the door. Welcome her in. There is no other way. You don’t think to ask her how long she will stay. You recognise her, you have met her before: The adamant house guest you can’t turn away....

Magic Lantern Man, by Graham Seal

by | Feb 25, 2023 | Issue 4 poems

Over the mountains and under the sky, With the sun at his back and the wind in his eye, They call him the magic lantern man, And wherever he goes, Everyone knows There’ll soon be a show. Lamps and candles, Songs and tales, An old oil can, Some dreams for sale – Magic...