The bird who sits in the cage of my heart
Won’t stop singing his off-key off-kilter
Out-of-it songs
And the dog who is tethered to a leash in my head
Won’t stop barking at the bird that sits
In the cage of my heart.
Author: Idle Ink
Self-Care by Jane Idrissi
“Your father nearly broke his back trying to carry your sister upstairs”.
“I swear to god -”
“We just can’t understand her, she was doing so well”.
Kay almost laughed.
“If you could come over, try to talk to her, she listens to you…maybe if you were here?”
“Seriously?”
“You’re too hard on her”
“I’m done”.
Podcast: Cadeem Lalor
JL chats with Cadeem Lalor about how culture has influenced his identity and how this comes out in his writing. Cadeem talks about how to know which criticisms are useful and laments about the grind of querying agents.
Cadeem also reads an excerpt from his short story, Memory Catcher.
Listen to the episode here.
Podcast: Molly Andrea-Ryan
JL and Molly Andrea-Ryan get existential as they discuss the idea of writing to find meaning. They chat about their oddly similar post-university experiences of dealing with burnout whilst working retail and the terror of attaching your name to creative non-fiction.
Molly also reads an excerpt from her story, Idle Hands.
Listen to the episode here.
Podcast: Kevin M. Casin
JL chats to fellow lit mag editor Kevin M. Casin about the stress of running a magazine and dealing with the eternal urge to take on way too many projects. Kevin talks about the importance of representation in the lit scene and why he’s proud to give a platform to queer and BIPOC writers.
Kevin also reads an excerpt from his story, The Binding of Light and Fire.
Listen to the episode here.
Podcast: Courtenay Schembri Gray
On the first episode of the Idle Ink podcast, JL chats with Courtenay Schembri Gray about the often-ignored issues within the online lit community. Why are we so quick to cancel people? When is it okay to call out a problematic writer? And why are we all so competitive?
Courtenay also reads her poem “June Bug”.
Listen to the episode here
Kepler-186f by Reba Elliott
Kepler-186f was the first planet of a similar size to Earth to be found orbiting in the habitable zone of its star. It is a rocky planet, which probably has some liquid water, and it is in the constellation of Cygnus, the swan. A day on Kepler-186f could be weeks or months long. Its star is dim – the brightest it gets at noon is as bright as our sun an hour before sunset. The red star might mean that plants using photosynthesis are red instead of green.
No one followed me out here. I looked back every ten feet or so to make sure I wasn’t being followed, and then I doubled back through the long, rusty grass and into the swampy woods for a little while for good measure. Not that I was doing anything wrong, I just wanted to be alone. Ever since the earthquakes started, alone time was hard to come by, and to be quite honest it was driving me crazy. I know, I know, we are blessed to be able to serve those who have lost more than my family did, those who lost their homes and their family members and came rushing to the coast to escape the fires, the destruction and the unpredictable ground-shaking. But I needed a break. We all need a break sometimes.
North was Zero by Amber Kennedy
Time ploughs through,
straight as a waterfall
gravity condemned.
Space splays out,
tumbles toys in tsunamis,
chokes where sun meets sand.
The Metrics of a Day by Alice Wilson
Today I walked six thousand and thirty-nine (6,039) steps which I appraised as ‘acceptable’.
I consumed five hundred and thirty-one (531) calories for breakfast in the eating of one bagel (254) with cream cheese (100) and smoked salmon (177).
I shed twelve (12) tears whilst crying on the phone to my dad about the fundamental question: “Am I willing to be hurt in the same way by this person again?”, which I resented but had to concede was #growth.