[Jayne Osborn]

Hi all,

It seems that I've neglected to announce the latest competition for Literary Review - my apologies! (I remember writing it up, but I must have forgotten to post it. )

The next subject to get stuck into is 'mud'.
There's still a week to go, so don't get bogged down; I hope you're swamped with ideas the judges will ad-mire!

Poems should, as usual, rhyme and scan, and be no more than twenty-four lines in length. UK entries to Literary Review, 44 Lexington Stret, London W1F 0LW. Overseas entrants can email to: editorial@literaryreview.co.uk

Jayne

[John Whitworth]

Mud

After the rain, the soft, incessant rain,
The squash, the squelch, the clog, the quag, the wallow,
The slithery, sly insistence of the drain,
The earth agape to slobber and to swallow,
The days and days of dripping, drooping, drivelling;
After the rain, the hydroptic earth is sweeter,
To sniff, to smell, to touch, to feel, to frivol in,
Sweeter than ever, cleverer and neater;
After the rain, my cats are out at last,
High stepping, curiously fastidious.
Froglets erupt from primal ooze – aghast,
(What’s this? Good Heavens! Horrible! Poor us!),
Cats clatter in, and, till the weather clears,
Sleep furiously, tight-curled, with pointy ears.