Separate the infant
monkeys from their mothers.
Provide them
with a surrogate.
One made of wire,
one wrapped in cloth,
and both should carry milk.
Cling to the cloth mother.
Milk or not.
Watch her dart to the wire to suckle
before she races back.
Secure and insecure?
(Ambivalent and avoidant.)
Distressed or withheld at the absence?
Bring out the monster-mothers
dressed in a cloth body —
armed with brass spikes.
They can air-blast,
fling their charge away,
rock till the teeth clash together.
But the babies keep on clinging.
A second of soft beats the bruising.
And it was here,
that I found us.
Disorganized.
Born to be a therapist.
I’m ‘a natural,’ you said.
I should ‘do this for a living.’
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
All rights reserved Lucent Dreaming 2024
Lucent Dreaming | 103 Bute Street, Cardiff, CF10 5AD | Company no. 13715142
