Joni

Talk like that she hisses, why don't you make a fuss, love isn't in the distance, powdered she emerges into light, an image of first resistance, a fragrance of cold tar nights, others are more insistent, they’re not part of us, ten days it’s been like this, an epiphany not yet sighted, she’s betrayed at every instant, who will return her rights, they give a final twist, different points at every thrust, she's caught within a prism, purge of contract pulled tight, no ships unfurl her bust, or poets chant on high, her dreams come to this?

Ita

Don’t tempt me with youth, leave me high on dreams, melt me lemon blue, ply your perfumes and bows, and easy ballet scenes, rather than be alone, create lovely tunes, dance dainty as a bee, smother me in yellow glue, boil away my bones, and gently tease, where I need to follow, my pink satin shoes, splay like tambourines, over blistered plastered toes, don't let me near the phone, if you’ve someone else to see, one kiss won’t quell my groans, nor visions of the sea.

Hayley

Our love of Tort, is a needling desire, an easy rush for justice, the legal spirit, like a cold fish knife, provides our morning biscuit, we would never draw, around soft midnight, the burdens we’re borne, our demons live with it, amongst candlelit signs we’re pushed to our limits, no matter what the call, a tide breaks the line, ours is an uneven chorus, we stumble unforgiven, your situation is dire, expect no remission, we’ve done what we can.

Ginny

I am sinking slowly, we are leaving from Palermo, eat linguini think about home, but haven't got the energy, she is such a generous soul, this friend of moral jeopardy, Italy’s in my bones, a five and dime alone, very different from New York, where we work unhappily, but share an equable tone, since our time on Trapani, men who want to phone, ask us where we’re going, fail to grasp our throne, the sun in train breaks free, nothing’s like being exposed, she paints her face for security, I wear yellow and groan.

Francesca

You'd gamble anything, one of us says, including your wedding ring, I wonder after kissing your lips, watching waves in the bay, the harbour alive with ships, what is it that makes you sing, salt and perfume not far away. chasing numbers with the wind, you caress your finger tips, smoke cigarettes kneel to pray, giving out as you came in, maybe you can smile, that certain image you make, hung before us in the air, a song sweetens everything, including all the nights betrayed, conceals all the little flings, take them to your grave.

Emily

Don't talk to me and pause, make this river weep and cry, we've heard your tales before, when you waved us away, she writhed inside, what you said was fake, she's your daughter, your so called interesting smile, say how you fought for her, left as a reminder, a taste, forgotten when we tried, to mail you every place, then a letter sodden in laughter, a cloudburst of your lies, Kobe, Manila, some wooden craft, in iron huts you pray, a lonely beach and sky, she’s never going to say, you gave her up for life

Diana

You whisper your love, on public telephones, your ravaged moves , an arc of grace, a lifetime, learning to moan, before flames of medium pace, gather beneath the moon, all the recognised credit zones, can’t tolerate fools, why do they so berate, fresh linen eau de cologne, even if it keeps them late, does it make you swoon, Saints like Patrick whose bones, and spirits fill these rooms, to touch your sweet face, don't lie prone, beside ill lit highways, stars aren't brightest alone.