Iain Britton: ‘night illuminates a fresh complexion. water spouts up & pierces the sky
skittling groups of stars. a thermal mist dissolves. people stare at geysers
fuming from rocks.’

Pete Smith: ‘Been smoking all morning, I have;
scared if I stop the roses will hug me
and gag me with thorns and wet petals…’

Steve Ely: ‘”Lectio Violant” — ‘profane reading’ — is the name I’ve coined to describe this process, alluding to Lectio Divina — ‘divine reading’ — the long-established Catholic practice of devotional reading, the purpose of which is to draw the reader closer to God by enabling a fuller experience of scripture. I’m not sure this book’s doing the same thing, although you never know.’

By MANASH FIRAQ BHATTACHARJEE .  For Abdur Rahim Khan e Khana’n. OUR MANY TONGUES encircle your tomb Like birds, chirping differently. Their colours Make the blue burst into wings. You Wrote for all the gods you knew. In poetry, You built a neighbourhood of faith. Who else but you, who went to war, and wove […]

Michael Buckingham Gray: ‘He sweeps his foot back and forth in the mud, and with every new blare of the horn, prods his bicycle forward until there are no more cyclists ahead. Pulls the helmet off the handlebars and puts it on his head. Throws a leg over his bike. Then stomps on the pedals. His front wheel kicks sideways on the first turn. And in the second, he slides the rear of his bicycle.’