A Shift in Time Zones

At breakfast, she lays Harold’s place: toast the way he likes it, just turning brown; a jar of thick-cut marmalade. She doesn’t like how the rind gets stuck in her dentures, but it’s his favourite. Her son, Ben, knocks on the window and waggles his hand. He’s in and out at all hours, keeping an…

The Kingdom of the Cats

Her eyes were of gold, of gold, of gold And she was most old, most old Lucas was the first to leave. In her hut at the village edge, Old Ana stirred her midnight brew and watched him stumble past, a witch-led boy taking footstep after footstep in the wake of a luscious beast. She…

Speaking in Tongues

When he gets home, he slides you into a goldfish bowl. You think there’s no way you can fit, what with the tail and fronds, but the water accommodates like a glove. Morning and evening, he shakes a plastic tub. The food falls in a drift of salty confetti. You flick your clever tongue and…