how long before a knock turns to slap & beat
depends on force – before mutter, cry, yell
to growl. how long before these trickles turn
to tears and wails. how long before we break
into shipwrecks, shattered in the deep, pulled
out of ruins, a word stuttering from silence,
forcing its way down into thoughts, into action.
how long before a bird’s sigh becomes a song
we move a foot, an arm, then the body to dance.
we are either forcing the world or something
in the world is forcing us, or something deep
within us, inside our mind. how long before
we stop dumping ourselves into the wombs
of women without their consents. before war
turns landowners to immigrants in a foreign land.
before refugees have to stop selling their kidneys
to organ agents. before we stop running in circles.
force is an aggressive state of mind, an autodidact.
force is words like plunder, norms, colonisation.
force is a body living in itself clock-like, a clock
chiming but not really chiming, forced to breathe.
how long before we move from a handshake,
a kiss, an embrace to truly loving each other.
Lucent Dreaming has been operating as a creative writing magazine since April 2018 from Cardiff. In 2023, we began our single-author trade publishing venture, launching
Today we shine the spotlight on Elin Heron, whose story John Truslove appeared in issue 11 of Lucent Dreaming, and whose book Jude is forthcoming
Lucent Dreaming signs Andrew Ogun’s debut poetry collection ‘Slingshot’
The Bookseller have announced their winners for regional and country finalists for The British Book Awards Small Press of the Year 2024. Lucent Dreaming have
Kolawole Samuel Adebayo (he/him), whose piece ‘The Poem in Which I Open Myself Like a Door’ is published in issue 7 of Lucent Dreaming, is
Think about the story you have in mind. Think about what happens next. Think about how it ends. Think about what the characters might be thinking about. Think about the nearby landscape, the sights and smells and sounds.
We are delighted to announce the winners of Lucent Dreaming’s 2021 Flash Fiction contest. The winning stories appear below, and will be published in our
Lucent Dreaming issue 9 has arrived at Lucent HQ and we think it’s our best one yet. Subscribe today from only £20 to purchase your
At the end of last year, our writers and funders received an email from me outlining a new publication timeline. It followed a long period
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One Response
The Poet portrays the harsh reality but ends in a hopeful note. Thank you for sharing.
Best regards
Sincerely
Shagufta
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