Category Archives: poetry

Poems Published in Cable Street Press: Issue 9

Four of my poems have been published in the marvellous Summer Edition of Cable Street Press, Issue 9.

A word from the editor on Issue 9:

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly, Sage Flowers, Marigolds.

Bastille Day has come and with it, the explosion of writing and art that is the latest Cable Street Issue. I’ll be frank with you—every issue blows my mind. I see all the pieces one by one and they are surprising, delightful, shocking, thought provoking. But then they all come together, and each and every time, I’m moved by the web of art in conversation that is created...And these are only some of the many treasures of this issue. Storm into this tower at your own speed, making sure to check out the poetry of F.C. Malby and Roberta Schultz…There is plenty to enjoy on this Bastille Day weekend.

— Hardy Griffin for the editors

Poems by F C Malby

My poems, Crossing, I Have Already Gone, Moths, and Where Have All the Birds Gone feature a range of themes, including the contentious issue of immigration. Through Crossing, I wanted to give a voice to the voiceless; this is a particularly exigent issue.

Crossing

I line up with other bedraggled bodies,
some look as though they might be dying,

others carry the weight of grief. I watched
a child slip away while we waited yesterday,

saw the life leave its lungs, the mother clung
to its body, tears wet the child’s face. It’s not

pretty, it’s worse than they tell you. I don’t
know whether we will make it or whether

we might be taken back. I don’t speak
the language, few of us do. It matters.

The look on the guard’s faces is difficult
to read, tells me they’ve seen so much

of this. None of us know what to do or
what’s next. Clothes dry on a makeshift

line between tents, next to plastic bags
of what we have left after the police take

anything else. Some of us camp under
bridges, avoiding the boulders that stop

us settling on softer ground. We wait for
the next boat, for a better life. The

mother is still holding the child. We
wait. Some of us won’t make it.

Read my other three poems here.

Exciting News: Four Poems to be published in Cable Street Literary Journal

I’m thrilled to have an acceptance of four poems to be published in International Literary Journal, Cable Street, in July. They only publish work three times a year, so I’m happy that my poems have found their way into this wonderful journal. I don’t know about you, but I love a backstory, so I thought I’d share a little about the publishers ahead of the publication.

CABLE STREET


“We are, first and foremost, an international, online journal fostering exchange among writers and readers of many languages. We post new issues three times a year: on or about May 1, Bastille Day, and Thanksgiving.

Our name reflects the essence of our journal: a festival of communication across nations and traditions, a chance to wander the byways of art from many hands and many lands. 

Cable Street is a road in London’s East End. It takes its name from the ships’ cables once made there—cables that traveled the world on British fleets. A place enlivened, then and now, by the dozens of languages spoken by sailors, traders, and immigrants. A place where, in 1936, a coalition of antifascists took a stand against the British Union of Fascists, turning back the tide of repression and ethnocentric dominion.

Like our namesake thoroughfare, Cable Street embraces the human family in its multitude of cultures.“

Photo credit: Cable Street Journal, Cable Street, London

More news in July!

Poetry Publication

My poem, She Laughs with the Breeze, has been published today at Fifty Word Stories:

She laughs with the breeze
as it sweeps through the town,
men — liquor-fueled and free
with their words — lean on the
bar as the music plays…

You can read the rest of the poem over at Fifty Words. Leave a comment and let me know if this inspires you.

Poetry Publication in Spillwords Press

WE WANT OUR BODIES BACK

written by: FC Malby

@fcmalby

In memory of David Carrick’s survivors (they are not victims, they are survivors)

We want our bodies back
the flesh you took
thinking it was yours
for the keeping.

We want our bodies back
the ones you thought you
owned, like a play thing
a game of cat and mouse.

We want our bodies back
they are not for sale
and they do not belong
to you or your desires.

We want our bodies back
because you thought that
by dehumanising us it would
make your fragile ego stronger.

We want our bodies back
because you didn’t hear
our no, didn’t ask, and
because they are sacred.

You can read the original post at Spillwords Please leave a comment or a like on their site or here.

Poetry Publication: A Chink in the Window

POETRY – “A CHINK IN THE WINDOW” BY FC MALBY 22/7/2022

A Chink in the Window

Light flickers through a chink in the window. Moths dance
outside in the low evening light, try to find their way inside,
the way children scramble to reach the popcorn. You think
about how people try to find ways out of things and ways in,
and about the constantly changing landscape of life.

Some scramble for the light, leaving at dawn, while others
remain. You wonder who controls the opening and closing
of windows, the turning of the leaves, the inner turmoil that
drives some to make the decisions that they do. You try to
fix them but some things are not fixable, not your

responsibility. Three moths have found their way in
through the chink and are dancing around the table
lamp. You wonder how many more will arrive and how
many will stay. Remaining through troubled times,
staying in the building, that’s the hard part. Some leave

when it gets too hot, others leave because they are
uncomfortable in their own skin. You wait for the moths
to leave near dawn, after they have settled in the warmth,
then close the window and watch the sun appear, feel
its warmth against flesh. And you know that if you travel
lightly, allowing the sand to sift through your fingertips

the right ones will remain in first the morning light.

FC Malby is a contributor to Unthology 8 and Hearing Voices: The Litro Anthology of New Fiction. Her work is forthcoming in the Reflex Press Anthology, Vol. 5. Her poetry has been published in Spillwords Press, Sledgehammer Lit and Unpublishable Zine. Her social media handle is @fcmalby.