Bio
Jim Conwell's background is London Irish and the themes of exile and dislocation are strong in his work, which is also informed by the psychoanalytic experience of his professional life and particularly by the issue of trauma. Humour is used to mitigate and gain perspective. He has had poems published in many magazines, three anthologies and has had two poems shortlisted in the Bridport Poetry Prize
Jim Conwell
Someone Else
How many men shaved their moustaches
when the realisation began to sink in?
It's the sort of thing you would do quietly,
hoping no-one found it worth mentioning.
We on the other side, rejoiced at their defeat
and were horrified by the extent
of the wickedness that was exposed.
Maybe there are also things of our own
we can throw into their cupboard
while it is burning and while
we think no-one is looking.
Like the crowds who gathered round
to jeer and to jostle, while
the women in their petticoats
had their heads crudely shaved.