THE WINGED MOON
SAVE THE ANCIENT
Maggie Mackay
Wild, eternal. Clut. Clywwd.
Constant. The water nymph
Clota’s Clyde. Sand and mud
churning north, then west.
Her slate covered surface, liquid-fertile,
witnesses swell and flux of seasons,
human ghosts, otters, heron, dipper.
The river’s a purifying force,
driving her fast and high seaward
towards the yards of Greenock,
where George Bissett set sail
for the South China Sea
and came home reborn
with a bird of paradise passion.
HAGSTONE
Lucy Coats
So long ago that land was still Pangaea and oceans named Tethys / dead sponges
sank into sediment / covered by nanoscopic plankton // Ages passed / slow as worms
winding through compressed earth / rock formed / razor-edged flint / in chalky
cradles of white primaeval bone // Seas receded / land rose / wind blew /
and in my childhood fields / I picked up arrowhead / axe /
and one perfect stone /
pierced through //
I put eye to hole and knew I was witch /
wild and rare as blackthorn blossoms in July //
Hag am I now /
heavy with winter //
That same stone lies on my altar /
reminding me
crushed things
survive //
ART I DREAMT A MOUNTAIN by øjeRum
øjeRum is a Copenhagen-based artist and music-maker. You can find their art on IG @oejerum
Maggie Mackay’s poem How to Distil a Guid Scotch Malt is in the Poetry Archive’s WordView permanent collection. Her second collection The Babel of Human Travel (Impspired.com ) was published in 2022. She reviews poetry collections at The Friday Poem (thefridaypoem.com). Devoted to her companion greyhound, she lives in Dunfermline.
Lucy Coats is a poet, writer and mythographer, with over 40 books published, including a well-received poetry collection for children. In 2017 she was presented with the prestigious Classical Association Prize for her body of work on Greek mythology, and in 2022 won the Latin Programme Poetry Prize for her poem Amor Non Vincit Omnia. She was also shortlisted in 2023 and again in 2024. She is an active member of the Threads and Instagram poetry community as @lucywriter and regularly publishes some of her recent work online. She lives in Northamptonshire, England, and finds inspiration in the beautiful countryside surrounding her, as well as in current events and ancient goddesses.