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As we head into the weekend, I hope you'll enjoy these poems by UK-based poet, Stephen Druce. I appreciate the playful style with which he conveys serious messages. Thank you, Stephen, for sharing your words with SHINE international poetry series! The Rarest Gift Few can ambidextrous switch - so few can sing in perfect pitch, the few are gifted intuition - few with surgeon hand precision, few can dance with perfect timing - few can conquer Everest climbing, few become good tightrope walkers - public speakers - dinner talkers, few can do the telepathic - few can tumble acrobatic, few become Olympic skaters - few become impersonators, few can solve the Rubik's cube - so few can thrive in solitude, so few become good belly dancers - scientists with all the answers, few are skilled to fly formation - few can master levitation, few can fashion clothes design - or portrait paint or juggle blind, but the rarest gift despite the rumour - blessed the few - a good sense of humour. Be Good to Me on Sunday I don't need your devotion - your attention - or to listen, connect with my emotions - or to tell me I'm forgiven, I don't need your affection or to feel your tender touch, I don't need your protection - your support - to be my crutch, I don't need adoration - all your compliments and thanking, your true appreciation - all your patience - understanding, I don't need all the accolades - your gratitude - respect, your sympathy - your serenades - your charming intellect, I don't need all your lavish gifts and all your good advice, don't save me in a snowdrift - I don't need your sacrifice, I don't need your agreement or to see my point of view, just be good to me on Sunday - and be good to me on Monday too.  Stephen Philip Druce is a poet and surrealist from Shrewsbury in the UK. He is published in the USA, Hungary, India, Canada, Ireland, the UK, and South Africa. Stephen has also written for London theatre plays and BBC Radio 4 extra.
Poetry fans, thanks for stopping by on this January day as we shine the spotlight on poetry by Pushcart-nominated poet, Candice Kelsey. You can read her poems: Because We're Both Cowards, Divorce in Autumn, and To an Ex-Husband, below. Thank you, Candice, for sharing your words with SHINE international poetry series. Because We're Both Cowardslet’s exchange places. I’ll sit in your car and you’ll sit in mine. I’ll live in your house and work your job; you’ll live in mine and do what I do. I’ll become you, dressing and undressing. You’ll become me, waking and sleeping. And when I am alone with your wife, I'll break the news that I’m leaving; you’ll do the same some evening sitting by my husband failing to get his attention. Divorce in AutumnA spread of rain-soaked leaves, sodden reminders of better years, twitch this way and that across the raveling asphalt like the runaway heat rose in your cheeks that time I said what we both were thinking but couldn’t sweep into the plunging cold of a gaslit marriage long enough for a solitary shape to rake it all into a tidy row of sturdy bags To an Ex-HusbandI can’t forget how you complained about the great Dane most nights a bark like bowshot the pair of you dog and human terrified that each visitor every Amazon delivery car honk skateboarder was really your past in disguise stalking you outside our marriage that rickety fence you half-heartedly hoped would hold.  Candice M. Kelsey (she/her) is a bi-coastal writer and educator. Her work has received Pushcart and Best-of-the-Net nominations, and she is the author of eight books. Her work appears in Bust, The Rumpus, Painted Bride Quarterly, Poet Lore, SWWIM, and other journals. A reader for The Los Angeles Review and The Weight Journal, she also serves as an AWP Poetry Mentor.
Today marks the last installment of this month's mini book series where we're shining the spotlight on former SHINE contributor, Lawrence Moore, whose new collection This Joyful Interlude was released in November by JC STUDIO Press (Glasgow). You can read my review below, and purchase a copy by clicking on the beautiful cover art image (by illustrator/publisher, Jane Cornwell). Congratulations, Lawrence, on this 'joyful' collection! Lawrence Moore's new book, This Joyful Interlude, is a delightful read, with plenty of whimsy (from poems such as, "Wendy and Crew" or "Puss in Boots"). But Moore has a knack for evading the overly sentimental with writing that is both heart-warming and thought-provoking, and which celebrates individuality as well as connected-ness. I especially enjoyed lines like, "When missing from the arias, you'll find me in the overtones" (from "Those Handsome Lights") and "If the moment sends us rain, we may be saturated together" (from "Rituals"). Like his previous books, This Joyful Interlude showcases Moore's skills with imagery and rhyme, and truly offers something for everyone. -Samantha Terrell, EIC SHINE international poetry series   Lawrence Moore has lived in the coastal city of Portsmouth, England his whole life and shares a house overlooking Kingston Cemetery with his husband Matthew and several mostly well behaved cats. His poems have appeared in publications including Sarasvati, Pink Plastic House, The Daily Drunk Mag, Green Ink Poetry, Dreich, and The Madrigal. His first full-length poetry collection, The Breadcrumb Trail, was published by Jane's Studio Press in March 2024.
Poetry fans, SHINE concludes its January book series with two more reviews this week. Today, have a look at work by Luigi Coppola, whose new book Even God Gets Distracted Sometimes is now available from Broken Sleep Books, Ltd. You can read my brief review below and purchase a copy for yourself by clicking the cover image. Congratulations, Luigi, and thanks for sharing your news with SHINE! Even God Gets Distracted Sometimes (Broken Sleep Books) is a beautifully compiled work of art. With illustrations by the talented Mark Shuttleworth and compelling poetry by Luigi Coppola, this collaboration reads like a dream, or a nightmare, depending on the poem! Full of insight and wit, Coppola's poems are at times silly, fantastical, but at others serious, even ominous. Standout poems, for this reader, include: Villanelle for the Greenman; Death Writes an Open Letter; Ours is the Wereworld; On the Buses With Philip Larkin, and the closing poem, A Bird On a String. Well done, Luigi! -Samantha Terrell, EIC SHINE international poetry series   Luigi Coppola – www.linktr.ee/PoetryPreacher – poetry, music, rum & coke. Featured at Glastonbury Festival, Tate Modern, Greenwich Theatre, Koestler Arts, Cutty Sark, Southbank Centre’s New Poets Collective, Poetry Archive Worldview winner, Bridport shortlist, Ledbury & National longlist, Lost Souls & Farrago Slam Champion, music as ‘The Only Emperor’, debut from Broken Sleep Books.
SHINE poetry fans, welcome back as we continue the January book review series. I hope everyone enjoys today's Spotlight feature of work by the very cool, New Age-style poet that is Rus Khomutoff. His latest work, Kaos Karma, was released late in 2025. You can read my review below, and as a special treat, listen to a selection of his work by clicking the video link he has generously provided. Kaos Karma is available as a FREE eBook (click Khomutoff's Kaos Karma poster to download). Thank you, Rus, for sharing your work with SHINE international poetry series. Through an artistic layout and experimental form, Rus Khomutoff has crafted a metaphysical journey of poetic expression. In reading work from Kaos Karma, the audience is immediately submerged into an ethereal, almost dreamlike trance. Khomutoff utilizes his skill for lyricism to draw the reader on and on into his work, but doesn't quite leave us there. There's a sort of call to action underneath these descriptive layers -- begging a reader to incorporate the spiritual into the corporeal. A fascinating read. -Samantha Terrell, EIC SHINE international poetry series   Rus Khomutoff is an experimental New York poet who has been seriously writing since 2015, and has published five chapbooks. Khomutoff's poetry has appeared in TRIPLOV, EgoPHobia, & Ink Pantry. His Instagram is @RusKhomutoff.
Poetry lovers, once again I'm thrilled to shine the spotlight on work by A.M. Hayden, who has recently released the lovely collection that is, Old World Wings. You can read my brief review below, and pick up a copy for yourself by clicking on the book cover image! Phenomenal, nostalgic, at times humorous, and heartfelt poetry by the rising star that is American poet, A.M. Hayden! This collection, as evidenced by its title, gives flight to reflections on multiple European adventures -- the art, the history, the passion -- from Venice to Sligo, and more -- it's got it all. Beautifully done! -Samantha Terrell, EIC SHINE international poetry series   A.M. Hayden served as Poet Laureate for Sinclair College from 2021-2025 and is a Tenured Professor of Humanities, Philosophy, and World Religions, receiving the League for Innovation Teaching Excellence Award (2020) and the Distinguished Faculty Scholars Award (2024). She has two full length poetry collections (American Saunter: Poems of the U.S. and Old World Wings: Poems of Europe) and one chapbook (How to Tie Tobacco), published by FlowerSong Press and Wild Ink Publishing. Twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize and a River Heron Editors' Choice Winner, she lives on a windy farm with her family and many rescues including a blind, three-legged dog named Vinny Valentine and a three-legged goat named Old Man Jenkins.
Today SHINE is pleased to continue this month's series of poetry book reviews, with the delightful work of Ewen Glass. His chapbook, If You Stand in the Corner of the Spare Room You Can Just About See the Sea (Inkfish Press), is sure to move. You can read my review below, and purchase your copy by clicking on the book cover image. Congratulations, Ewen, on your fine work! In If You Stand in the Corner of the Spare Room You Can Just About See the Sea (Inkfish Press), poet and screenwriter Ewen Glass crafts a delicate collection full of weight. Exploring the contradictions of what it is to be human, and our need to fulfill the unfulfillable, a reader is greeted with words that resonate and emotions that fill the gaps between what’s viewable and what’s not. For me, stand-out poems include: I Can’t Sustain You, Feast, and Winter Solstice. Don’t miss this short but poignant book. -SAMANTHA TERRELL, EIC SHINE international poetry series   Ewen Glass is a screenwriter and poet from Northern Ireland who lives with two dogs, a tortoise, and a body of self-doubt. His poetry has appeared in the likes of Okay Donkey, Maudlin House, HAD, Poetry Scotland, and One Art.
On Bluesky/X/IG: @ewenglass Happy New Year, poetry lovers! We're kicking off the new year with a short series of book reviews. First up, UK-based poet Peter J Donnelly's Bloom and Grow (Alien Buddha Press). Check out my review below, and purchase your copy by clicking on the cover image. In Peter Donnelly’s book Bloom and Grow, there is love and disappointment and regret which resonates with all who know loss. But lines like “...it’s more like your eyes are averted” (from “Where It Hangs Now”) hint at the growth the book’s title alludes to, as we come to accept the way our impressions of others -- while they lived -- shape who they continue to be to us, after they are gone. Donnelly’s Bloom and Grow also offers resolve and contentment through lines like, “a shame to miss out on Aysgarth Falls, but you can't have everything” (from “Half An Hour in Hawes”). Overall, this is a collection full of raw emotion and evocative imagery. A treasure. -SAMANTHA TERRELL, EIC SHINE international poetry series   Peter J Donnelly lives in York where he works as a hospital secretary. He has a degree in English Literature and a MA in Creative Writing from the University of Wales Lampeter. He has been published in various magazines and anthologies including Dreich, Southlight, One Hand Clapping, High Window, Black Nore Review, Ink Sweat and Tears and Obsessed with Pipework. He was a joint runner up in the Buzzwords open poetry competition in 2020 and won second prize in the Ripon Poetry Festival competition in 2021.
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SHINE - International Poetry Series
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From the international poetry community, we have a "luxury of stars," as Sylvia Plath might say, and it is SHINE's honor to provide a home for their words with the online Spotlight series as well as SHINE Quarterly. Click on the logo above to learn more. And...keep writing, keep shining!
In poetry, Samantha Terrell, EIC SYLVIA PLATH
Stars Over the Dordogne Stars are dropping thick as stones into the twiggy
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