Iain Britton
Iain Britton’s first collection of poems – Hauled Head First into a Leviathan – Cinnamon Press (UK), was a Forward Prize nomination in 2008. His second collection Liquefaction was published by Interactive Press (Australia) in 2009. Recently Oystercatcher Press (UK) published his third collection.
Some poems can be accessed via such online magazines as Blackbox Manifold, Nthposition, Ouroboros Review, The Stride Magazine, Shadowtrain, Great Works (UK) Harvard Review, Drunken Boat, Free Verse, Scythe Literary Magazine, BlazeVOX (US) Jacket, Otoliths, Snorkel, foam:e, Cordite, Papertiger, The Retort Magazine (Aust) Poetry NZ and the International Exchange for Poetic Invention. A few forthcoming online publications in the UK & US: Markings, Cake Magazine, The International Literary Quarterly, phati’tude Literary Magazine, The Hamilton Stone Review.
Black Rose
A theme pouts
and a talismanic pendulum
ticks to and fro.
Lips
smear walls.
A black rose springs up
centre stage.
Floorboards shift
and thorns
flake aphrodisiacs.
***
On stage
she touches my arm
speaks of doping herself up
lays eggs in my skin
curls up in the cup of my hand.
***
My role: to collect
wings abdomens cocoons
maggots
famous for their spirals
their twists and turns
sudden dead-ends.
They gulp at headlines.
***
A rare find (darkened by dust)
she reveals a truth
a clutching of hand on heart
a life form softened by sound.
Butterfly or Not
Vividly inked
on your arm
the shadow of a butterfly
stiffens up
and looks to take off.
Night’s touch
moistens the house
the thinly transparent
veins
that go with your walk.
Old eyes like red-hooded fuchsias
hang from damp parts of your body.
I make a mental note
of what I need from the shop.
You bring blankets dolls the preserved bedroom of a mother
an icon stripped of glamour.
If quiet enough
I hear the unbuckling
of a costume
a fluttering
dry leaves taking your weight
the sound of a new programme
going to air.
I make a mental note of what you used to look like.