Dear, he who must not be named (T/W) by Faye Alexandra Rose

davidlonan1's avatarFevers of the Mind

I say I don’t, but I remember that night.

There were eleven lights in the ceiling and five trains went past the window. You told me to
be silent. Not one word or your violence would speak a thousand. It turns out you wrote a
novel all over my skin was a map of the places you had been uninvited. Watercolour bruises I
could not dilute with bleach. I cried to the police reliving that moment once again. The
examination was filled with swabs and humiliation as a male doctor went near my wounds. I
feared men for a long time after, I would even flinch at my brother’s touch. I’d often see red
and lash out, like a bull I would charge at whoever told me “I would be okay.” I can’t even
look in the mirror without seeing shame! I scrub my skin until it bleeds and please…

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An Essay “We the People” by Troy Jackson (from Fevers of the Mind Press Presents the Poets of 2020)

davidlonan1's avatarFevers of the Mind

”We the People” is the opening phrase of the Constitution of the United States of America. “We the People” was chosen by the ‘Founding Fathers’ of the nation as the opening phrase of the Constitution because it would serve as a reminder to lawmakers and citizens alike that the power and responsibilities of the newly founded nation resided in “We the People”. The phrase “We the People” signified that the voting rights of the people would serve as the paramount political act in this newly formed land of various states, laws, and peoples.

Not included in “We the People” at the founding of the nation were women, native Indians, and slaves. Slaves who had been brought into the land as early as 1609 had no rights. Slaves who were the ancestors of a people we today collectively callAfrican-Americans. My family and I are the descendants of those slaves. Slaves were…

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Becoming Noah – Imogen Downes — The Poetry Shed

Becoming Noah Prologue Hell knows all hiding places.Hell invented them.That’s what makes it Hell.When the rain comes, and it will,the sand will not shelter your head. 1. There was something godly about it.Something definiteabout the way everything starting to drip,how all the good china started to run and the animals became unusual.People were pinning bed […]

Becoming Noah – Imogen Downes — The Poetry Shed

The Shaking City – Cath Drake – Seren — The Poetry Shed

The shaking city of Australian poet Cath Drake’s debut poetry collection is a metaphor for the swiftly changing precarity of modern life within the looming climate and ecological emergency, and the unease of the narrator who is far from home. Tall tales combine with a conversational style, playful humour and a lyrical assurance.​ The poet […]

The Shaking City – Cath Drake – Seren — The Poetry Shed

Creativity in Lockdown – A Film Poem by Helen Dewberry — The Poetry Shed

Back in April 2020, in the first lockdown, my collection, The Unmapped Woman was launched by Nine Arches Press on Zoom with great support from the fab poets Katie Griffith and Robert Peake. I didn’t know at the time that Jane Commane was in conversation with Helen Dewberry about a variety of film poems including […]

Creativity in Lockdown – A Film Poem by Helen Dewberry — The Poetry Shed

Creativity in Lockdown: In Conversation with Sarah James — The Poetry Shed

Looking back to the first lockdown how did it affect you and your writing? If I’m honest, I don’t really remember a lot of the first lockdown in great detail now. Because of my type one diabetes, I’ve stayed at home for most of the past year even when we weren’t in lockdown, and time […]

Creativity in Lockdown: In Conversation with Sarah James — The Poetry Shed

Creativity in Lockdown: In Conversation with Deborah Alma — The Poetry Shed

What I am Doing in Lockdown This one? I’m swinging back and forth between small bursts of energy and creativity and deep level procrastination because of a tricky and monstrous tax return. We’ve had some family members really unwell, so I’ve been managing my anxiety with walks with friends and mindless TV. I’m also working […]

Creativity in Lockdown: In Conversation with Deborah Alma — The Poetry Shed

Unlocking Creativity with Claire Trevien — The Poetry Shed

For my first post from an artist, I had a conversation with poet and artist Claire Trevien  earlier this month to discover how she is approaching creativity in lockdown. Claire has kindly donated an image as a  writing prompt and I invite you to post your poems in the comments below. Each week, over the […]

Unlocking Creativity with Claire Trevien — The Poetry Shed