Size / / /

In amongst her mother’s linen
was a single grey pillowslip
made from sleet;
it lay folded
into quarters, and was totally bound.

She shook it out with a snap,
but it held together;
a square shower
of icy rain, going nowhere
and coming only from itself.

She placed a pillow inside it
and immediately
it became
a sodden weight.

When she laid her head upon it
her mind was as full
and as emptying
as the endless skies

Publication of this poem was made possible by a donation from Sylvia Spruck Wrigley. (Thanks, Sylvia!) To find out more about our funding model, or donate to the magazine, see the Support Us page.



John W. Sexton lives in Ireland and is the author of five previous poetry collections, the most recent being The Offspring of the Moon (Salmon, 2013). His sixth collection, Futures Pass, is due from Salmon in 2015. In 2007 he was awarded a Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship in Poetry.
Current Issue
22 Jul 2024

By: Mónika Rusvai
Translated by: Vivien Urban
Jadwiga is the city. Her body dissolves in the walls, her consciousness seeps into the cracks, her memory merges with the memories of buildings.
Jadwiga a város. Teste felszívódik a falakban, tudata behálózza a repedéseket, emlékezete összekeveredik az épületek emlékezetével.
Aqui jaz a rainha, gigante e imóvel, cada um de seus seis braços caídos e abertos, curvados, tomados de leves espasmos, como se esquecesse de que não estava mais viva.
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Translated by: Carol D'Souza
I said sky/ and with a stainless-steel plate covered/ the rotis going stale 
मैंने कहा आकाश/ और स्टेनलेस स्टील की थाली से ढक दिया/ बासी पड़ रही रोटियों को
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Translated by: H. Pueyo
Here lies the queen, giant and still, each of her six arms sprawled, open, curved, twitching like she forgot she no longer breathed.
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