Our first issue: An Echo in the Heart Cave
There is writing happening. Maybe that’s hard for you to understand. I am here but “I” am not here. I am writing but “I” am not writing. Inside of me in the Heart Cave is a mantra going on that reminds me who I really am. Over and over again. In this inner place. I am. And even as I write, where this mantra is going on, I’m just watching with great awe and wonder.
Ram Dass
The theme of our inaugural issue is inspired by the beloved spiritual elder Ram Dass and his 1971 publication, ‘Be Here Now’.
Pieces selected for inclusion decipher and delight in an aspect of the book or observation of the mystical experience.
An Echo in the Heart Cave is available to buy from our Etsy store now
Firstly, the beautiful sweet-hearted art of Axenia Raulet
Axenia is a self-taught visual artist in a shy polyglot shell that sometimes blooms and clowns.
Axenia says of her piece for 'An Echo in the Heart Cave',
I always create my collages while doing telephone interpreting. I receive calls from all over the UK – from Scotland to Cornwall. That day I was on the phone with a pregnant lady hearing for the first time the heartbeat of the tiny little creature swimming in her womb.
Please join us in the chambers of this delicate embrace for a spell.
Next, we share a poem from Tyler Walter
We love the echoes of memory described in this piece, and how the word ‘tiger’, slowly transforms from pet name to savage beast with each repetition.
tiger tiger by Tyler Walter
tiger tiger here i am tiger glorious tiger victorious
tiger fangs and tiger claws magnificent beast i
have been this way for so long now i have always
been this way i think but i haven’t known it
until you called my name tiger tiger you laughed
as you called tiger you said tiger! and what a tiger
all orange like fire all black like night all tiger
and i laughed with you and you’d distract me
from the prey and i wouldn’t mind i’d go hungry
for you and you’d say tiger aren’t you hungry
and god i was so hungry it was hard to not kill
us both right there i did my best but my claws dug
into your back when we held each other i always
drew your blood when i didn’t mean to and
sometimes when i did mean to and you’d say
tiger calm down tiger you’re okay and
i’d lick your wounds clean still thinking about
the hot flesh there but later we’d laugh again
playfight on the living room floor tiger
with claws and teeth you called me tiger
and tiger i was and you should’ve known
what a risk it was to take in such a thing
you should’ve known what i was going to do
i was hungry for too long my claws lingered
in your back and tiger tiger here i am: all beast.
Tyler is a poet from the UK. They love pop music, learning languages, and horror movies.
His chapbook, I TRY TO DISTRACT MYSELF BUT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT LOVE SO EVERYTHING IS ABOUT DEATH, is available on Etsy.
Finally, please join us in adoration of Mark Watkins' ‘Mood Swing 62’
This hand-cut collage is taken from a series called Mood Swings, made up of miniature collages pasted on the pages of an old cashbook. Mark created the series reflecting on the idea that mood can change from day to day, minute to minute, sometimes for no apparent reason.
The particular piece featured in An Echo in the Heart Cave is more about a dream state – we go to sleep each night not knowing where our subconscious will take us.
Mark Watkins is a collage artist based in Staffordshire, United Kingdom. Mark’s analog collage explores the minutiae of human existence inspired by the absurd, disturbing, humorous or beautiful worlds in which we dream. Ideas and themes are realised through the juxtaposition and layering of vintage imagery, papers, colours and text which are reconstructed reflecting on how memories can recede, become lost or randomly re-surface.
If you’ve enjoyed this sneaky peek into our first issue, you’ll be delighted to know that ‘An Echo in the Heart Cave’ is available to buy from our Etsy store now.
Thank you so much to all the poets and artists featured in our first issue:
Rachel Kavanagh, Robert Beveridge, Mark Watkins, Charlotte Brisland, Tee Ferguson, SJ Kennedy Scott, Sofia Grin, Cristian Usai, Liv Wood, Tom Cherrie, Tyler Hayden, Simon Hauwaerts, Ed Rea-Allison, Ellis Gale, Dhwanee Goyal, Linnea Langfjord Kristensen, Kathy Williams, David Ruiz, Emily Way-Evans, Karolina Pociask, Tom Phillips, Dylan Hussey, Fernanda Reyna, Layla Nami, Karan Chambers, Samuel Crosby, Axenia Raulet, Neil Dakeyne, Lisa Perkins, Tomislav Sertić, Trudie Loop, Diana Suárez, Janette Ostle, Kitty Doherty, Audrey Jeamart, Charita Nichols, Tyler Walter, Katy Luxem, Julian Fordyce and Psychosurrealism