Image: © Charles Eastwood Ya Shaykh Heaven Hough End Fields, Manchester, 2020 here, every blade of grass,every bluetit and blackbird,grasshopper and tiny ant,the creeping thistle in summer the gorse bush and the hairy willowherb,fireweed and curled wood;the corn chamomile, the calming tea,the hailed herb chicory all are in constant […]
Poetry
if you close the door, the night could last forever
Image: © Charles Eastwood the sun rises over julia’s balcony streaming from the east, honey & lemons from the west where empty plant-pots sing for geraniums strong enough to survive the spanish summer julia’s eyes are gentled by soft blue morning light it’s stasis printed on the surface of passing […]
2 poems
Image: © Charles Eastwood postcard from atta, guyana my mother’s footprints The tales she’d tell exotic morpho mother I chase them in East Street as I search for her home find only scrubland look for clues at Kitty all trace washed away of her swims in muddy seas further on […]
The Handover
Image: © Charles Eastwood i.m. Fada Mohammad Years ago, on a long-haul to Singapore, Kabul appeared on the seat-back locator map tracking our flight path: below us was a place where war never dies, but at 12,000 meters the window held only the pale brown creases and folds of The Hindu Kush. […]
My Great Grandfather’s Apron Shop
Image: © Charles Eastwood Salt, parsley, matzah I am tying my apron when he wanders in. He must be impressed, my elter zeyde, because instead of moving on again, he sits as if inviting me to make him coffee; I pull tight on my apron strings, imagine his approval, his apron shop, its […]
2 poems
Image: © Charles Eastwood Hometown Elegy Plumstead Road is a zip in the town’s mended dress. You’d like the new half, its cleanness. The posh cafes. Though a cup of tea costs what we used to pay for a pizza and a pizza, no joke, is what we paid for […]
Drought
Image: © Charles Eastwood everywhere the land is now taken into drought mandatory water shutoffs only water your lawns after 6 pm and we let our lawns die and neighborhood after neighborhood becomes burned and the city gradually loses its color until the valley bakes down into a light brown and i drive around […]