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ONLINE BOOKSTORE FEATURED TITLES
Songs of Earth and Light
Richesses: Francophone Songwriter Poets
Munster Literature Centre
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Helen Ivory is a poet and artist. Her third collection with Bloodaxe Books is The Breakfast Machine (2010). She is an editor for The Poetry Archive and edits the online magazine Ink Sweat and Tears. She teaches for the Poetry School and the Arvon Foundation and programmes the creative writing courses for Continuing Education at UEA. She regularly posts new artwork on her website: http://www.helenivory.co.uk/
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My Two Fathers
When my father removes his skin he steps to one side and tidies the old skin away with a dustpan and brush.
He wants nothing more than not to make a spectacle but my mother insists he fill it with stones.
The stone father is anchored to the armchair, while the other goes upstairs to his room in a sulk.
The stone father holds the television control, orchestrates the night’s entertainment. The other stays asleep like a bear.
Trinity
My coterie still follows me; the emu, the bear, the hedgehog, now nesting mice in their bellies.
They stand directly behind me in mirrors; shadow me through parks, pretending to be leaves and songbirds.
On cold days they unzip their skins; dress me up in fur, to protect me from the apple-head doll’s shrivelled smirk.
And as I climb back into the wardrobe they stand brave in their nakedness, armed with paring knives, dessert spoons.
©2012 Helen Ivory
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©2009 Southword Editions and Munster Literature Centre |
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