(Cover illustration by Jeanann Moloney)
Welcome to Dust's fifth issue, Portrait, which contains 41 poems on the theme of portrait.
Thank you to everyone who submitted poetry for this issue. Once again I have been overwhelmed by the volume and quality of submissions and the ongoing support, encouragement, and vitality of the poetry community, particularly online, which has often felt like a bright and hopeful space in this incredibly bleak year. It remains a huge privilege to read your work and to be part of this community.
I am so proud of the poems in this issue and so honoured that the poets chose Dust to feature their stunning work, I hope you enjoy them.
Tara Wheeler
Founding Editor
Ghost Light by Miranda Lynn Barnes
Madder Red Dreams by Rupinder Kaur
Portrait Of My Grandmothers As Sideboards by Ann Cuthbert
The Woman In The Pink Hat Is Not A Local by Emma Lee
How I Write About Enslavement by Jenny Mitchell
The Thing With Broken People by Mathew Lyons
Self Portrait 2 by Lotte Mitchell Reford
Hospital Selfies by Poppy Cockburn
Microchimerism by Katie Oliver
Self-Portrait With Windsor Chair by Julian Brasington
How We Found Ourselves Unchained At The Shore by Osahon OkaÂ
Self-portrait In A Misty Mirror by Kim M. Russell
He Waits With The Argos Catalogue by Gareth Culshaw
River Return Us by Peach Delphine
Picture Perfect by Ermelinda Makkimane
A Caterpillar Chewing a Weed Leaf Wonders if He’ll Ever Become a Butterfly by Elaine Wang
To The Stars by Shirley Jones Luke
My Sexual Orientation Is by Nymphish
Self-Portrait with Attachment Theory by Kristen Kalicharan
The Crooked Old Man by Alan Kissing
Something To Relish by Thomas Abalahin
Time / Lapse by Alvin Kathembe
Pinacoteca di Brera by Julie Hogg
His Whole World by Rob McKinnon
Anatomy Of A Ghost by Sarah Doyle
My Father And I by Reshma RuiaÂ
Poem for Sophie by Rachel Carney
Self-Portrait in Small-Town Summer by Jessica KimÂ
Cover Illustration by Jeanann Moloney
Our beautifully vivid chair on the cover of the issue is by artist and illustrator, Jeanann Moloney. Jeanann is a self-taught artist from Cork Ireland, who likes to work in acrylic, watercolour and gouache. She takes inspiration from femme fatales in film and bold uses of colour. She has been featured in Bloomers Magazine and won a Vogue Magazine illustration competition. Her Instagram is jeanann.moloney