Tyneham '43 Copyright © Richard J Whiting 2011

Villagers in Tyneham, Dorset, received notice in November 1943 that their village was to be used to train soldiers in the use of new weaponry. They had to leave by December 19th. They were promised that when peace was won, that they would be allowed back to their village. The population of Tyneham (Census 2001) was given as zero.

All along Post Office Row
Fingers opened envelopes;
Mouths quit eating,

In Statione ¹ Copyright © Rod O'Donoghue 2011

Murky mists slide silent over the soft green sea;

Fairy Tale Copyright © Rob Lock 2011

You are naïve, believing in magic -
you donʼt give a bean for prudence
but you earn a kiss, while still a belly-flopper

Corpus Domini 2000 Copyright © Victor Weston 2011

We walked with Jesus through the streets of Sorrento
he came to us in the bread and the wine
while the sky was blue and incense wafted heavenwards

Before The Solstice Copyright © Richard Whiting 2011

June. The wheat heavy on the stalk
Grey-green, sea-whispers in the breeze.
Sunlight sweeps across the fields

Master Thatcher Copyright © Richard Whiting 2011

My father is a Master Thatcher;
I watch him leap up the ladder
Laden with Maris Widgeon Straw

Weather Front Copyright © Owen Robin Davies

I sat upon a bench today, hard against a wild hedge
and looked with awe as the sun rode on a dark indigo ledge.
Midnight blue it was, a foreboding dead straight line

Immigration Copyright © Fred Rapsey 2011

A tree that's growing strong and tall and true
Draws sustenance from deep within the earth
And photosynthesis will help its girth

Marmalade Copyright © Sally Adams 2011

Always in February when
the Sevilles sit in
the market huddled