Poetry
VE Day
By Liz Kay At Number Nine Mary is humming, twisting bunting. Her fuzzing hands wave to Number Ten where Charlie and Steve are leaving for their daily cycle. On Thursday evening, they had forgotten [… read more ]
Pens of the Earth
Fiction
Compost Heap
By Sue Harper Sarah’s partner remarked: ‘I do hope someone cooks dinner.’ That seemed rather a passive-aggressive formulation, Sarah thought. Why not ask her outright? After all, she did it every single day. ‘Will you [… read more ]
Poetry
The Unlock Dress Code
By Sue Spiers Monday’s mask bears buttercups, saffron buttons under launderette-fog glasses. Beetroot stains her Tuesday mouth like rose lipstick. No one sees her smile. To the bank on Wednesday with leaf-green tree [… read more ]
Memoir
In Search of Portsmouth’s Marginal Spaces
S&C regular John Callaway explores the parts of Portsmouth where other photographers rarely venture. Over the past few months, I’ve attempted to navigate the local landscapes of Portsmouth, the place that I’ve called home for [… read more ]
Fiction
Your Beautiful Eyes
By Christine Lawrence The first thing I noticed about him was his eyes. One eye was a vivid blue and the other a strange shade of brown flecked with gold. I tried to look away [… read more ]
Poetry
Nigra Bamboo
By Maggie Sawkins We thought the planting of it would enhance our patio garden, but its stems hardened. Now after four years it has obscured the view from the bedroom window. We have [… read more ]
News
Southsea Green Community Garden
Irene Strange reports on the Southsea Green Community Garden during lockdown, and provides a poem celebrating some of its produce. Whether it is the rainbow colours of the butterflies in the Butterfly House at the Natural [… read more ]
Fiction
Summer Magic
By Joan Farnell With a whirring of wings the pigeon took to the air, startled by the crunching of my feet on the gravel path. It was quiet here underneath the trees in Foxes Forest. [… read more ]
Memoir
Stream
S&C Community Reporter Andrew Larder muses on the state of nature in Portsmouth during lockdown. Sometimes I wish my neighbour Frank had never mentioned the underground stream that runs by my house. Frank and his [… read more ]
Memoir
A Borrowed Arboretum
Novelist and short story writer Wendy Metcalfe finds an unexpected haven in which to get some work done. One of my quests during lockdown has been to find beautiful quiet places to sit and write [… read more ]