The Explorer
Jonah Corren
Hailing from West Dorset, Jonah Corren is a songwriter-poet. His work has been published by Nine Pens Press, Young Poets Network, and others. He is also an alumnus of BBC New Creatives (2019/20) and The Apples & Snakes Writing Room (2021). His debut alt-folk EP, Dreaming and Petty Crime was released in December 2020.
I can’t stop myself from chasing
the corner of my eye. I’m all Labrador,
spinning in pursuit of that whip
of tuft, only to snatch a handful
of something threadbare
and familiar. The clenched fists
of my spine are stacked like pebbles,
up and up, impossibly into
the breaking clouds. And look!
The sun is a fist too, rays
glowing through parched knuckles.
All this light, and I still can’t catch
the bugger. I’ll have to call in sick
again tomorrow, only to emerge
next week, unchanged, like
the shameful re-entry of a hiccupping
classmate, the water fountain
having failed to rid them
of their disruptive jolts. I’m learning
the trick, though. Someone whispered
a YouTube tutorial in my ear,
then vanished before I could lean
into the embrace. Hold a plastic bag
to your mouth and nose, they said,
and wait, wait, wait, until air feels
like post-mix soda, until
all the stars have flickered
into view.
Photograph by Naihan Nath.