Latest Publication

out now

Skald are pleased to announce the publication of the first in their new pamphlet series. Ralph Hawkins' The Size of A Human Dawn is a brilliant collection of poems from one of the best poets around.

   

If you like Size of A Human Dawn then we recommend you also seek out Goodbye to Marzipan, his new full length collection from Shearsman Books.


Send a cheque for £3.00 (payable to Skald Community Magazine) to Ian Davidson, School of English, Bangor University, Bangor, LL57 2DG. Provision to accept payment via PayPal will also be available soon.

   

Some sample poems from the pamphlet appear below.

   

The Barter System Doesn't Work

 

the barter system doesn't work

why do we get swept (up, away) out on a sea of wishes

the days and cold lit nights now longer

my muscle architecture a ruin without bedside visitors

I'm annoyed with optimism

time is not a fire curtain,

it's an assembly, a rushed gathering

I'll never get to know the real thing

I give you these pork pies*

*no artificial additives or colourings

 


 

He Saw Her As The Snake

 

He saw her as the snake

Certain death and broken heart would follow (!)

To ward off, rub with alcohol and curatives, purgations

And don't go into the woods

Or pray on the roads (a lisp)

A foolish thing to do

Be an improvised device

Learn to survive crash landings, heart attacks and heart aches

Be the crew of (a member) a sunken submarine

bubbling up from down below

 


 

He Took No Note

 

He took no note

The hospital doors swinging shut

"I asked my mother what will I be"

The emergency exit

The stars looked down

In poverty you try to do everything right

Castor oil, Rose

In some places Tiger nuts

Look, they do not know how to mend a broken heart