The Friday Poem

A poem every Friday

The Friday Poem

Welcome to The Friday Poem Archive. During 2021 – 2024 we published original poems, reviews of poetry collections & pamphlets, and features about poetry, here on this site. There are more than 700 posts for you to browse – this page displays a random selection, refresh the page for more, or you can use the Search function or do an Archive search, both top right, if you know what you’re looking for. Now The Friday Poem posts on Substack – come and take a look. You can subscribe, also top right, or via our Substack – if you do, you’ll get a post in your inbox on most Friday mornings ready for you to enjoy with your mid-morning beverage. Keep on poeting, poets!

Part of book cover showing Kite form by Mike Barlow — a piece of abstract art (because we have learnt by now that nothing says competent poet more than a bit of random abstract artwork). Painted driftwood is the background to geometric shapes in shades of blue. These are criss crossed with bits of fine string. Told you ... poetry.
The background is waves of pink and light blue. On top is a line drawing showing hands holding a heart shape with the word 'cursed' on it.
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.
Monochrome photograph showing the silhouette of a woman standing on a small rock in the sea.
What looks like an ancient Greek plate or bowl. A bloke with a bad back seems to be have been bitten by a snake and he is gesticulating towards a reclining fellow who is possibly having his heart pecked out by a large bird of prey. Lotta blood, but they were rough in them days.
Three poetry pamphlets - 'Fridge' by Selima Hill (blue with a white outline pic of a fridge and a goose on?, 'Oh Be Quiet' by Natalie Shaw (white with a bit of yellow), and 'do not be lulled by the dainty starlike blossom' by Rachael Matthews - dark green with black outline flowers
Waiting with Leszek
A photograph showing an open hand with some dried flowers on it. The background is pink
The Biddy Boys
The Friday Poem 'Guitar' by Tess Jolly
A black and white photograph of a woman's face; she is smiling.
Saint George and the Dragon, a painting by Paolo Uccello. . It shows a scene from the famous story of Saint George and the Dragon. On the right, George is spearing the beast, and on the left, the princess is using her belt as a leash to take the dragon up to the town. The eye in the storm gathering on the right of Saint George is lined up with his spear showing there has been divine intervention. The painting is commonly interpreted as an illustration of the legend of St. George as recounted in the Golden Legend. However, Stanford professor Emanuele Lugli has suggested an alternative reading: that the work functions as propaganda, encouraging Florentine elites to adopt agriculture. In medieval symbolism, the dragon was a symbol of pollution, and St. George's slaying of the creature can be seen as a metaphorical reclamation of the land, leading to a pure water source located in a cave.