RITA DI SANTO speaks to the exiled Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa about Two Prosecutors, his chilling study of the Stalinist purges
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The Semiotics of a Genocide Observed
by Uzmah Ali
FIONA O’CONNOR is fascinated by a novel written from the perspective of a neurodivergent psychology student who falls in love
New releases from Robert Forster, Self Esteem, and Arve Henriksen
SIMON PARSONS is gripped by a psychological thriller that questions the the power of the state over vulnerable individuals
KEN COCKBURN assesses the art of Ian Hamilton Finlay for the experience of warfare it incited and represents
The bard gives us advance notice of his upcoming medieval K-pop releases
GORDON PARSONS steps warily through the pessimistic world view of an influential US conservative
The half beats of a home
Shared meals, preferences
Eating each other’s leftovers
Completing each other’s sentences
Breath on breath, heart of my heart
Skin on skin, soul of my soul
Beauty
fully realised
Spine against chest, head under chin
Nose dipped in the scent of unwashed hair
The half beats of a home
Fight, flee or die
Will memories ever bring comfort?
Beauty is such a terrible thing
Cold bodies curled over each other
Still, for the next evacuation order
SIGNIFIER: A Welsh poet from The Global South, watches the news, forces herself to to stay on social media, and reads Manic’s lyrics.
SIGNIFIED: Rubble: Houses: Homes with no beats: More than 25,000 tonnes of explosives. At time of writing, equivalent to at least two atomic bombs.
Uzmah Ali is a Cardiff born poet, and works in the public sector. Her first poetry collection, Breathe Before Thought (Waterloo Press, 2020), was noted by the Poetry Book Society. She can be found on X and Instagram @uzmahwrites
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