Ian Humphreys #2 - ‘First poem’ in response to Kit Kelen’s ‘First post’

First poem

The first poem

I wrote was

scratched in sand on

Dymchurch beach

with the point

of a big whelk shell.

I was four or five.

It read: 

HERE I AM    

I AM HERE.

As I played

with syntax, rhythm,

Paddy barked

at puddled jellyfish,

mum cracked guazi

with her front teeth and

out-browned

the melon seed husks

under a waning

British sun.

After chips, I held

the whelk shell

to my ear – so startled

to hear the blood

of my rush

I didn’t notice

the sly tide

wash away my words

and leave behind

a blank page.

Cui Yuwei #3 ‘A Mid-Autumn Dream’ in Response to Tricia Dearborn's First Post

Cui Yuwei #3 A Mid-Autumn Dream 

(in response to Tricia Dearborn's first post)

A Mid-Autumn Dream

Cui Yuwei

someone has reaped

the moon

at twelve noon

self-translated into Chinese below:

《夢中秋》

有人收割了

正午十二點的

月亮

Tricia Dearborn #1 - What you and I say (and don't) in my dreams

What you and I say (and don’t) in my dreams

you say:

‘When we have unmet needs, we become the needs’

and

‘The money’s good, the best thing would be no more night work’

and

‘Chalk it up to the ups and downs of the theatre’

I say:

‘Well, you’re tetchy today’

and

‘You could tie a pudding to me and sink me at this point’

and

‘Was that a literal question or a reproach?’

I think:

‘I should just tell her I’m terrified’

I wonder:

could I offer you a hug at the end of the session —

a child can offer an adult a hug sometimes

my first therapist says: ‘You don’t feel the touch of my love’

(but is that really you?)

a client rings and leaves you a message: ‘I love you’

(and is that me?)

you ask me what the red marks are

and I say ‘I was pinching myself

to see if it was a dream’

Béatrice Machet # 2 How to Join the Row

In response to Magdalena's first poem

"a storm would have shook it free"

HOW TO JOIN THE ROUND 

to start knitting

    you must begin with a cast-on

loops on the needle

you can wrap cast

    you can knit cast

       you can long tail cast you can …

                so many names whirling around

                                         and so many cast-on methods …

                  Now make sure

the stitches are on the inside of the circle made by the circular needle

your storm pattern is ready

don’t fear the twists

the Mobius never ending ring

becoming strip

you don’t need to

know the limit of the row

and now you can work in the round

                   I’m here
     waving words in the middle
     this nowhere as a real world 


and now Magdalena's poem into French  

une tempête l’aurait délivré                               

ce fut un départ circulaire

quelque part au milieu

comme si un nouveau nom

changeait la trame de l’histoire

mon étagère de livres tomba

dans la tempête

le tas avait sa propre esthétique

nous disait quelque chose de nous-mêmes

notre ambiance

la joie aléatoire qui nous fragmente

ce ne fut pas la première

vérité dite

quand je prétendais comprendre

le paysage assombri

un coup d’œil rapide sur ton front

tes mains qui tricotaient

un langage déjà

le fossé s’amplifiait

qui pouvait payer, qui ne pouvait pas

cette ascension rapide vers le pouvoir

chaque barreau de l’échelle s’écroulant

sous ses jambes enflées

tu pleurais de frustration

travaillais avec fièvre

ignorant l’aube qui réveillait

les hormones

je voulais que le monde

fut réel

peu importe la logique rigide

du tournoiement

les arbres en silence

chantonnaient, un chaos grandissait

juste sous l’écorce

ce fut le commencement