Tuesday, March 19Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

Creative Writing

How do you answer a question without questioning your answer?
Creative Writing, Lifestyle, Literature

How do you answer a question without questioning your answer?

By Anna Diedrichsen How do you write a love poem without confessing too much?  Do you only write down half of what you think?  Do you write like instead of love hoping they’ll understand either way? Do you dial down on the pink  and instead use a dark grey? How do you speak without sharing too much? Do you ask questions, trying not to care? Do you let your sight wander, avoiding their eyes? Do you wait until someone asks you to share and then only tell them quiet white lies? How do you live without wanting to move on up?  Do you stare out the same window every day  waiting for the view to change?  Do you long for salt but wish your...
Move on Up
Creative Writing, Literature

Move on Up

An Anagram Poem By Jemimah Hawkes Perhaps the best plan  would be to shove you   with no more politeness than a lain-down rake.   But I allow myself no  such luxury. You and yours stretch to eons of space and time.   I am not infinite, no.   I am not forever, no  always lurks in me.   But I am so much movement and shadow you don’t know what to make of me.   I am venal and cardinal, I am  an anomaly in your taxonomy.  I move in circles all my own.   Perhaps we should put it to you,   fame-claiming, politicking, marvellous men.   Perhaps we should ask you   to move on up,  make space   and se...
GEDAREL, or, A Rant about the Pill
Creative Writing

GEDAREL, or, A Rant about the Pill

GEDAREL 20/150 microgram film-coated  Ethnylestradiol / desogestrel  GEDAREL knocks knocks knocks on her door, 5 o’clock on the dot. Not a second before nor after, GEDAREL must be let in daily or disaster strikes. She—no, no, GEDAREL is he, she wouldn’t inflict this, she wouldn’t force our hand, she wouldn’t think this was the solution. He pounds pounds pounds, “LET ME IN! LET ME IN OR I’LL RUIN YOUR LIFE.” She doesn’t behave like this, demand like this. This is all he, he wants no consequences—no consequences for him, consequences for her are printed double sided on A3, conveniently folded into nothing. She lets him in because it’s better than the alternative. GEDAREL enters incognito, wig equipped and ready for action. Glass of wine in hand, GEDAREL introduces himself...
oyvey
Creative Writing, Features

oyvey

behold the golem of prague how tothe first step is seeing them then talk to them then convince themsimpleso after saving them from that edgeplace your own edge on their throat and slice theirs open first before any seas can lay claim to it firstbefore earth before hearth before flame before greedy fingers pry their way to their tonguerip it out first beforeand then wear it in the mouthsit it in the right placecreak teeth out of placealign rows of molars incisors caninessculpt gum to fit perfectanother persons stolen tongueand when that is done and when you are caughtand when there is nothingleft to bare in their hotlampsleft to bear the roiling heatleft alone to step without rhythma syncopated disfunctionof them forcing that maw openad nauseam they will rip out your speechsear yo...
Rainbow World
Creative Writing

Rainbow World

Red: love. Romantic love, a connection at its bloom. A mother’s unconditional love, a life being born from another. A sibling’s love, with all the bickering and fighting, that love is still there. A friend’s love. A heartbreak that proves the love was there. Orange: balance. Understanding there will be grief and uncertainty in life but being able to blur out the shadows and find joy in the little everyday things. A morning coffee. A family breakfast. A sunny day. A hug. A face-to-face conversation.  Yellow: spontaneity. We are all strangers until one person breaks the ice and comes up to you. He introduces himself, you make small talk, find a common interest and before you know it that stranger is now your best friend. A connection in the crowd.  Green: rebirth. Rebirth...
The Deafening Sound of Shattered Glass
Creative Writing

The Deafening Sound of Shattered Glass

A single crack would never sound  As loud as the others. Drowned  Out by the silent pain Oblivious until it happens again. Forced to face  The ever-growing pace Of the incoming fractures Caused by the human manufactures  Of the heart Would one ever restart  The journey that started the shattering  Filled with constant flattering Or possibly fuller of lies Trying until one dies Because of the lack of love Like an unfilled glove Waiting for the perfect hand To fill it tightly. Planned To be a perfect match But a shattered heart has no match Just a scratch Left by those who dropped it Outcast like some odd misfit  Left alone. How could I have known How painful a thousand shards Of...
Overlapping Pillows
Creative Writing

Overlapping Pillows

Mines thinner and softer Yours fuller and plusher Overlapping on the sides Making the perfect pillow mix To rest our heads As we hold each other In the dark silence  Hot under the covers  Laying in each other’s jumpers Unnecessarily warm but So necessarily comforted  Our breath meets On the perfect pillow blend Twirling and dancing With each other  Whilst we dream of one another Fantasising about love That we both so crave Never wanting to let go In case we can’t find each other Again. Left isolated in the midnight Lost without the other  Forever seeking  For someone that was never there  How can pillows overlap If it is just my pillow on the bed? Photo by the blowup on ...
Made out to be the villain for so long I’ve grown horns
Creative Writing

Made out to be the villain for so long I’ve grown horns

I treat everyone fair But they don’t care About me Only them Only their heart Not mine Which grows  Darker Day by day Searching for another To replace it Its black vile Like an infected Coat of armour  Covering the red The pink love Which is rapidly turning  Black No light can  Enter  No light ever will Closed off  Forever. It’s safer that way. If no one wants  Heaven Then they must  Be faced with Hell Met not with  Fire But with darkness A Hellhole Of Silence A chasm of  Emptiness  A forgotten city  Evacuated because It was  Destroyed Lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil The evil That...
It’s great to be famous
Creative Writing

It’s great to be famous

It’s great to be famous, Or so it seems. “Hi how are you?” “Aren’t you” Yes. Yes, I am. “Nice to meet you” “Do you know” Yes. Yes, I do. “My name’s” “Didn’t you and” No. That we never did. It never got to that point. Photo by Fardad sepandar on Unsplash