Guest Poem by Eleanor Westwood

Eleanor Westwood lives in Devon, UK. Her stories and poems are often inspired by walking in local landscapes. They can also, like this one, be a response to events in the wider world. Eleanor has a background in teaching but is currently focussing on her writing. Her poems have been published in Acumen, The Frogmore Papers, Earth Pathways Diary and Earth Pathways Calendar (poem for January 2022). She is working on her first collection.

Breaking News

16.3.22

the child, too excited for school
the husband, heart in his guts twisting
the woman kissing her parents goodbye

the passport bearing her name in her own hands
her sweat impregnating the cover joins
the man whose family wait for him

negotiators choose their words
fragile as fluted glass
reporters hold their breath

the pilot receives his final call, drains his latte,
the man and the woman climb the metal stairway
the family and friends will the plane into the sky

The plane carrying British-Iranian nationals Mrs Zaghari-
Ratcliffe and Mr Ashoori, detained in Iran for 6 and 5
years respectively, landed in the UK in the early hours of
17th March 2022.