Rowan Lyster


Men you can’t pay

 

No matter how you insist, we’ll thumb
our beards, mumble groundwards

wouldn’t dream of it love until
in return for the iron rails

we’ve wrought for your curtains,
the earth we’ve dug, you resort

to desperate means – trick an egg
into our frying pan, spill an extra

drop of lager into our pint
when we’re looking away – to get around

this roughing of palms, twisting of fingers,
this least I could do, it’s really no bother.

 

Rowan Lyster a poet from Herefordshire, based in Bristol. Her poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in publications including Anthropocene, Bath Magg, Magma, PERVERSE, Poetry Wales, Tentacular, The Rialto, The Scores and Under the Radar, and her Legitimate Snack was published this year by Broken Sleep Books. 


To discover more content exclusive to our print and digital editions, subscribe here to receive a copy of The London Magazine to your door every two months, while also enjoying full access to our extensive digital archive of essays, literary journalism, fiction and poetry.

The London Magazine
The UK's oldest literary magazine

Please sign me up to The London Magazine newsletter* for the latest poetry and prose, news and competition updates, as well as 10% off their shop.
*You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or directly via info@thelondonmagazine.org. Find our privacy policies and terms of use at the bottom of our website. Find our privacy policies and terms of use at the bottom of our website.