The Friday Poem

A poem every Friday

Steven Lovatt

Mostly orange and orange tinted cover showing what looks like a woman's face half hidden by something that appears to be a vertical semi transparent column with thin diagonal white stripes on it.

Monsoon night-song

Steven Lovatt reviews Mother of Flip-Flops by Mukahang Limbu (Out-Spoken Press, 2022)
Appears to be a watercolour painting in a block graphic style representing sea in the foreground and a sandy seashore behind. The whole thing has a slightly swirly pattern visible. A bit like the circle marks on an artex ceiling, but more artistic.

The wonders this lens can do!

Steven Lovatt reviews Ferenc Juhász: Selected Poems translated by David Wevill (Shearsman, 2022)
Paul Muldoon standing in front of a grey wall looking 'ard. He has grey curly hair and glasses, and he is wearing a brown tweed jacket and tie and a dark shirt.

With a pink and a pink and a pinkie-pick

Unpack a Poem: Steven Lovatt on 'The Loaf' by Paul Muldoon
An image taken from the book cover, Its shows a bit the the name Emily in yellow text and the first six letters of the word "unexhausted" in blue text. The background is shocking pink

Strung like an archer’s bow

Steven Lovatt reviews Unexhausted Time by Emily Berry (Faber, 2022)
Black shapes on a bright pink/purple background. On the shapes the word amino is written in vertical fragments "AM" "N" "IO" "N"

Dealing in shards

Steven Lovatt reviews Amnion by Stephanie Sy-Quia (Granta, 2021)
Three pamphlet covers arranged in a fan shape, one has a photograph of a river crossing sand to the sea, one has what looks like an abstract pattern of leaves in shades of brown and one is very pale green with block text in a kind of marbled pattern.

Three pamphlets: Matthew Hollis, Holly Singlehurst and Gboyega Odubanjo

Steven Lovatt reviews Leaves by Matthew Hollis, Mat Riches reviews The Sea Turned Thick as Honey by Holly Singlehurst, and Hilary Menos reviews Aunty Uncle Poems by Gboyega Odubanjo
black white head shot of the poet, he is looking upwards to the left and his chin is resting in his hand

I’d found a home

Steven Lovatt on reading poetry in translation, discovering Czesław Miłosz’s anthology Post-War Polish Poets, and the style and sensibility of Zbigniew Herbert
The Words Cheryl's Destinies in slightly curly script are seen twice, a white version reflecting a pink version both on a black background.

Like a bride with a posy of stout

Steven Lovatt reviews Cheryl’s Destinies by Stephen Sexton (Penguin, 2021)
Selima Hill wearing a scarf around her neck and a headscarf/bandanna type of thing. It looks good.

Distracted by eyelashes

Steven Lovatt reviews Men Who Feed Pigeons by Selima Hill (Bloodaxe, 2021)
Heft

Heft

In the first of our occasional series on words that have editors reaching for the red pen, Steven Lovatt eviscerates ‘heft’
Book cover of Restorations by Rosalind Hudis. It's abstract art, or maybe a picture of mountains, in blue and dark red against pale pink.

In the end it was a matter of woodworm

Steven Lovatt reviews Restorations by Ros Hudis (Seren, 2021)