Stuart McPherson - Two Poems
Content Warning: death, violence, abuse
Belly Pork
Hit the age of reason with a stick. Feel the welts form, a
humpback bridge.
Over water spilt on instruction, and abridged. Of mechanics
mistaking Rorschach then
for the silhouette of man mismatched. The carcass of a horse.
A boy skipping stones into a mother's mouth who spits them
back.
Remorse for a dawn that never arrives. Its father zipped away
in the blackness of a bag, strikes
the age of reason with a belt. Deprives it of food, sees its pink
belly bloat.
A scabrous moon peeps a ridge. Spears a boar that bleeds.
Pours testosterone. Unexpectedly becomes a suckling pig.
Disappointed Moon Poem
Your rise & fall
of light, less heat
Asthmatic chest
squeezing dirt
Of time drawing
in its air
Axis calibration
The spoils of war
Crude oil on a
gull's wing
Of negligence or
endless tides
This sadness of
pale porcelain
Spins slowly
The hanging nail
hooked
on ruptured fear
To dying mothers
Father figures
unable to outwit
gravity’s leash
Oh poor moon
Your seas
are showerless
Spilling tears
Its rocks & dust
trail ridges
Helpless as
an orbit
Your magnolia
cheeks
Best viewed on desktop, please also find a PDF file available to download here.
Stuart McPherson is a poet from Leicester in the United Kingdom. His work has appeared in Beir Bua Journal, After the Pause, Selcouth Station, Osmosis Press and The6press. His debut pamphlet ‘Pale Mnemonic’ was published in April 2021 by Legitimate Snack/Broken Sleep Books. His pamphlet ‘Water Bearer’ will be published in December 2021 by Broken Sleep Books. His work explores the impact of family dysfunction and trauma upon ‘norms’ of masculinity and encourages an open dialogue and openness around this this subject. You can find him via twitter @theeabsentee or via his website www.theeabsentee.com
Artwork: richard iii and the church of our mothers by JW Summerisle
JW Summerisle lives in the English East Midlands. Their poetry & artwork can be found in Resurrection mag, Catatonic Daughters, The Madrigal, SAND, & Re-Side. They may sometimes be found on twitter @jw_Summerisle