Leftfield Questions

How is a hedgehog like a teatowel?

What mundane task would a living hedgehog do in a home?

How would a teatowel be rewilded?

Once were tea towels

smart-checked and striped,
holes now united by threadbare,
unravelled warp and weft,
linted and loose-threaded,
shoe-cleaners, floor-wipers,
the unnameable rags
that line forgotten places.

~Not all forgotten, not by all~

a hedgehog home, deep in the pile
of cracked roof tiles and bricks,
beam splinters ancient plaster,
is lined with linen, embroidered with oak leaves,
spiked and span, gathered by prickles,
wind holes filled with moss,
a winter sleep away from spring.

-Jane Dougherty

Leftfield Questions

How is a fox like a toaster?

What mundane task would a living fox do in a home?

How would a toaster be rewilded?

Night warden

Where the kitchen stove glows
still warm, cats dream,
and mice dance with stray crumbs,
nudge loose-fitting lids,
chew holes in the mesh
of the food safe.

Padding soft, almost silent,
the fox in the attic descends
the cold stairs, grey-ghost,
in search of fat mice,

where cats stretch in sleep,
in the stove-glow,
their dreams full of tiny squeals.

-Jane Dougherty

I found a fox in the crumb tray of my toaster once.
My friend found kippers in a bank deposit drawer.
One of these is true.
Life, stranger than fiction. Poetry, stranger than both.

Ivor Daniel

Proud and red
the toaster
on his forages
stands aloof,
looking down
on cold plates

He accepts another
outstretched slice
of bread, takes care
to avoid a stand off
with a knife or fork,
then warms to his task

before he merges,
ears flattened,
unseen, by a den
of cupboards,
on the look out
for supper.

-Val Bowen

As humans yawn inside the house
The toaster lurks behind the shed
When all is dark it hunts for crumbs
And pounces on a slice of bread

The bagels roll in frantic haste
Baguettes pretend to be a post
For each one knows that if it’s caught
All hope is gone and they’ll be toast

-Jennifer Thomas

The Takeaway

Savoury or sweet, hearing footsteps
on repeat, chilli caught between the teeth

ice cold larger in its can,
grip the railings with one hand

steady on your going to trip
plastic walls or maybe brick

and the tiger in its cage
pushed so hard against the bars

hearing footstep
on repeat – sick to death of steps like this

such a shame the parrot’s squawk
she was fast tracked, walked the walk.

-Chaucer Cameron

Bio and Links

Chaucer’s poetry has been published in journals, magazines and anthologies. Chaucer is creator of Wild Whispers (2018) an international poetry film project, and regularly curates and presents poetry film at events and festivals. Co-editor of the online magazine Poetry Film Live.

• Poetry films screened in UK and internationally.
• Contributor to Moving Poems: the best poetry videos on the web.
• Poetry and monologues performed at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham.
• Founder member of Poetry Factory, a critical poetry collective.
• Poetry film workshop facilitator with Swindon Poetry.
• MA in Creative writing from University of Gloucestershire.

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pastoral pastels.
swathes of hillside rambling
across dawn canvas.

-Mo Schoenfeld

Bio and Links
-Mo Schoenfeld

is a poet from Oxfordshire in the UK. Her work appears in Irisi magazine, Haiku Crush’s The Best Haiku 2021 Anthology and The Best Haiku Anthology 2022 (winning a Judges Grand Mention award), Pure Haiku (blog), Tiny Wren Lit, and The Storm’s inaugural print journal. She is currently guest co-editor for Sídhe Press’s first anthology on the theme of ‘Dementia’.