Oatleaf

June has come to an end and we'd like to say thank you to our wonderful contributors! We are so, so glad that you chose Oatleaf to showcase your work. ... We are grateful to: Vash Owen | Bubog: A Mirror's Reflection Branwen Drew | Rain Haiku Quartet Ellen Forkin | A Bird to Soar Peter J. King | Post Mortem R William Parmenter | You Ground Me (June 2025 Competition Winner) ... We appreciate the work you put out into the world!

What got you interested in writing poetry? I was in my teens when I first got interested in writing poetry. During English class, there was a unit on poetry. I don't recall which poets we read, but I do remember having assignments to try writing poetry. As a visual artist, it really struck how writing poetry was like drawing or painting. When I could take what I was feeling — all that comes with being a teen — painting with words to convey my experiences really took off for me. It helped me get in tune with myself during difficult times, especially struggling with bipolar disorder, anxiety, and depression. Though my writing ebbed and flowed through the years, I have been writing poetry ever since. What does your writing process look like? Ideas come to me at random times through experiences either sensory or emotionally — sometimes both at the same time. A word or phrase will appear and I will write that down right away. Sometimes the poem will come to me in the moment or I'll ...

... When it is hauled – dissolving, hard to see as what was once a human being – out of the winter lake, they gape in silence: puffs of vapour stand for voices. Brought to shore, it lies upon a canvas sheet; the brightly painted rowing boat is dragged up on the freezing mud, and those with jobs to do leave in relief. The rest look anywhere but at their dripping catch, and wait until the surgeon comes to certify the thing is dead. It’s whisked away, laid out upon a table, stainless steel — and then the slicing and the sawing, and the grim performance of the modern haruspectic rite that seeks for omens, not of things to come, but of the past. Here, trapped within the folds of grey, a bullet’s found, striations mapped; upon the wrists and ankles, barely visible, abrasion marks. The organs bottled, tissues laid on slides, and dental work recorded... finally the closing, crudely stitched. The corpse is slid into a chilly drawer, the table’s sluiced, and there’s just time for sandwiches a...

Editor's Note: Congratulations to R William Parmenter for winning this month's competition. The theme for June was "out-of-body" and this piece captures the experience of floating, as vapor, in a simplistic and beautiful way before being pulled back to reality by a loved one.

... My room, an island Windowless and blue and quiet The world outwith an endless ocean Unpredictable, ever-changing, deep My mind, the sky Alive with colour and sunlight and oxygen Cloud thoughts gleam and gather Until I create drawings—stories—poetry These are the birds I send soaring Out beyond ... Ellen Forkin is a chronically ill artist, writer and poet living in Orkney, Scotland. www.ellenforkin.co.uk @ellen_forkin | Instagram Ellen Forkin Art | Facebook @ellenforkin.bsky.social | Bluesky @ellen.forkin | TikTok

... Rain and thunder forces me to seek shelter away from the storm. Water drips off the eaves, needed moisture for the roses new green leaves emerging. After spring rains fall dandelion seeds drift on the wind fill the air conditioner filter. Puddles in the drive waiting for kids to jump in sneakers soon to be soggy. ... substack.com/@branwenspoetry

... A cracked reflection whispers truths concealed; a gaze unwavering into eyes that know the sting of regret. Bubog, raw and unhealed, scars etched across a weary heart. Each flaw, a silent scream, each mistake, a tear uncried. Amid the agony of facing oneself, a battle rages on—to embrace the wounds, to find love in the broken pieces, and to whisper gently to the soul, "You are enough." ... @wenohwhen | Instagram & Threads