The Friday Poem

A poem every Friday

The Frip

Chestnut ribbon of speed

Chestnut ribbon of speed

Hilary Menos reviews The Luck by Jane Routh (Smith|Doorstop, 2024)
Book cover showing a black background with a watercolour of a hawthorn branch in flower.

The haze of the otherworld

Matthew Paul reviews The Hawthorn Bride by Victoria Gatehouse (Indigo Dreams, 2024)
The outline of a shark in almost fluorescent green on a beige background

The wheeling Maybirds

Tim Murphy reviews The Shark Nursery by Mary O’Malley (Carcanet, 2024)
Hand drawn title 'GUB' in black on a cream background. A beastly mouth is surrounding the 'B'

A tutti-frutti cigarillo wrap stuffed with Alaskan Thunderfuck

Dane Holt reviews GUB by Scott McKendry (Corsair, 2024)
A photograph of a cuckoo with a smaller bird feeding it.

Let us venerate niche and otherness

D. A. Prince reviews Broadlands by Matt Howard (Bloodaxe, 2024)
Blue and white illustration, possibly a lino cut showing a blue cup on its side with spilt liquid. The cup has an illustration that looks like Lewis Carroll's Alice.

Stuffed Monkey and Other Considerations

Helena Nelson reviews After the Rites and Sandwiches by Kathy Pimlott (Emma Press, 2024)
Pencil drawing showing a cube on a white background surrounded by a green textured corona.

Latte-coloured cannonbirds

Jane Routh reviews No Man’s Land by David Nash (Daedalus Press, 2024)
Illustration showing an open Hand with what loloks like a ribbon running over the palm. On closer inspection the ribbon is a road with a small car on it.

The good way home

Tim Murphy reviews Popular Song by Harry Man (Nine Arches Press, 2024)
Oil painting in mostly grey and blue showing a jug and two bowls on a shelf

Learning about loss

Annie Fisher reviews The Wind and the Rain by Anthony Wilson (Blue Diode Press, 2023)
Painting showing wide red an white horizontakl stripes, in th top left corner is a drawing of a gun on a blue background. Some white stars are at the bottom.

The point-blankness of space

Christian Wethered reviews American Anthem by Kelly Michels (Gallery Press, 2024) 
Black and white photo showing three policemen with riot helmets on a Northern backstreet.

STRIKE is a fist beating fast

Matthew Paul reviews STRIKE by Sarah Wimbush (Stairwell Books, 2024)
A white plastic safety helmet floats on the water; underneath it numerous goose barnacles are attached.

What belongs outside, and what comes in

Isabelle Thompson reviews May Swim by Katie Donovan (Bloodaxe, 2024)