When helping friends move (because they are not allowed to stay)

When helping friends move (because they are not allowed to stay) A poem by EmmaClaire Brightlyn Love is a many vesselled thing not limited to a muscle encased by a cage of bones and a breast. Love’s mercurial shape can take more states than water, finding home in plates and dishes as well as... Read More

Donna Matthew: the Paisley poet talks to Claire Elliott

Fresh from her appointment as Makar of the Scottish Women’s Football Association Poetry Society, Donna Matthew discusses her new role and what it means to her to be a Paisley poet with Claire Elliott What would you say your experience has been like living in Paisley? I was born in Paisley, but I grew... Read More

The Honeybee and the Bumblebee, a poem by Gordon Powrie

The Honeybee and the Bumblebee, a poem by Gordon Powrie One day a fuzzy Bumblebee Was a-buzzing in the garden When he saw a Honeybee A flower she was guarding, The Bumble said “Honeybee, If you’ll just give me a chance I promise I can take special care Of your flowers and your plants.”... Read More

Set the Controls for the Heart of The Club Bar in Paisley

Set the Controls for the Heart of The Club Bar in Paisley, a poem by Graham Fulton Scotland have just beaten Croatia 1-0 in Zagreb when we least expect it, and to add to the amplified wash of unreality the pub is now playing back to back songs by Pink Floyd beginning with ‘Set... Read More

The Deceit: A poem by Bobby Motherwell

The Deceit by Bobby Motherwell They rise from the scrapes like windblown leaves, a deceit of sixty plus Lapwings. From white to black they flicker in flight. Pages of flip art motion. Escapees against a smothering sky. They mesmerise. Daring me to distraction to Goosander and Widgeon and Great Crested Grebe bobbing nearby. Spiralling... Read More

Thomas Barbour: Paisley Popular Poet

Brian Hannan, local author and manager of Abbey Books in Paisley, takes a look at the work of Paisley’s Thomas Barbour Thomas Barbour achieved local fame in unusual fashion. His poems were exclusively published during his lifetime by the Paisley Daily Express. And he wasn’t living in Paisley at the time, so his works... Read More

The Big Fish of Galilee – a poem by Ross McWhinnie

The Big Fish of Galilee – a poem by Ross McWhinnie Spare a thought for people lost between the lines, unmarked on the Bible page gauged unworthy to make that great geography of names and shames that frame the stories kept. Think a moment on the ferment felt by Lazarus’ undertaker, robbed of his... Read More

Both Ends Against the Middle – a poem by Mairi Murphy

Both Ends Against the Middle by Mairi Murphy Mothers knit the streets together: picking up dropped stitches of the careworn darning tears, dispensing gallus compassion, doling out rampant favouritism – cheeky bisoms shouting the odds, one slap fits all. Everyone named, everyone known, doors open, falling out, falling in, swinging lampposts, chalking beds, deliberate... Read More

Shaun Moore – Tannahill Makar and spoken word artist

Just weeks on from his appointment as Tannahill Makar, Mill caught up with spoken word artist Shaun Moore to discuss his new role, Renfrewshire’s radical heritage and more.  When it’s done right and without airs, graces or elitism, poetry and spoken word has the capacity to effect and advocate for change, broaden horizons and... Read More

Oak Tree Writers poem – The Best Shop in Paisley

The Best Shop in Paisley, written by The Oak Tree Writers Club (ages 12+), Aaron McWilliams, Emily Head, Leo Whaley, Murray McGeoch & Sophie Watt. Paisley, full of wonderful shops, But one stands out from all the rest. Some others think they’re better, But this one is the best. I love all of the cakes,... Read More