A packet of Marlboro Reds, 
tissues (extra large), 
three Trebor mints (extra strong), 
betting slips, a deck of cards. 
Swiss Army knife complete with 
corkscrew and spearpoint blade. 
A number scrawled on a sticky note. 
Photograph of a busty blonde, 
handspan waist cinched in lace 
and denim. Mobile phone. 
A wedding ring. Confused regret, 
at that foolish text, that sordid matter. 
Eurostar tickets to Paris (unused). 
Maxed-out credit card. A key. 
A small space for his boyhood dreams—
Route 66, Cadillac, the next Ali. 
A lighter. A hole through which 
his dignity has slipped. 

—Poem was shortlisted for the Ó’Bhéal Five Words International Poetry Competition, 2021.

In His Jacket Pocket, 2021 (paper collage)

Copyrighted © by Jane Salmons. All rights reserved.
Appears here with permission from the artist.

Jane Salmons

is from Stourbridge in the UK. Her first poetry pamphlet, Enter GHOST, was published by dancing girl press in 2022. Her debut poetry collection, The Quiet Spy, was published by Pindrop Press, also in 2022.

Jane has micro and flash fiction stories published with MacQueen’s Quinterly, The Ekphrastic Review, Ink Sweat & Tears, and in the Ad Hoc Fiction anthologies Dandelion Years and Flash Fiction Festival Five; and forthcoming in The Dribble Drabble Review. Her work has been shortlisted for the Bath Flash Fiction Award, and nominated for Best Microfiction 2023 and Best of the Net 2024. Her story Miracle Grow won the Pokrass Prize at the Bath Flash Fiction Festival held in 2022.

Author’s website: https://www.janesalmonspoetry.co.uk

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ The Weightlessness of Love, ekphrastic microfiction by Jane Salmons in MacQueen’s Quinterly (Issue 12, March 2022); nominated by MacQ for the Best Microfiction 2023 anthology.

⚡ Passengers, ekphrastic microfiction by Jane Salmons, in Starry, Starry Night: An ekphrastic anthology inspired by Van Gogh’s masterpiece, published by The Ekphrastic Review (25 February 2022)