The prizewinning and commended poems of the Love and Loss competition, selected by Sheila E. Murphy, are published in this special issue of The Passionfruit Review.
1st prize: ‘Gerard at 35’ by Sue Norton
2nd prize: ‘The night I start my period, I dream of Molly’ by Caitlin Tina Jones
3rd prize: ‘above the shawarma kebab shop & the bank of china on sauchiehall street glasgow’ by Ali Whitelock
[{"id":2206,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/above-the-shawarma-kebab-shop-by-ali-whitelock\/","name":"above-the-shawarma-kebab-shop-by-ali-whitelock","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'above the shawarma kebab shop...' by Ali Whitelock","author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2025-04-03 08:51:55","modifiedDate":"2025-04-03 11:08:04","modifiedDateGMT":"2025-04-03 11:08:04","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":2,"sec":15},"status":"publish","excerpt":"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the word GRIEVE is etched into the red sandstone tenement like a command. i obey. lower my eyes. think of the saddest thing i have ever known. it involves a dog. i google grieve sauchiehall s"},{"id":2199,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/inheritance-of-water-by-jai-michelle-louissen\/","name":"inheritance-of-water-by-jai-michelle-louissen","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'Inheritance of Water' by Jai Michelle Louissen","author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2025-04-02 22:16:25","modifiedDate":"2025-04-03 09:24:59","modifiedDateGMT":"2025-04-03 09:24:59","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":0,"sec":47},"status":"publish","excerpt":"between the sea inside\nand the gull storm on my window\ni bury her\n\npinnace scuttled ~\n\nabove me\nwhales like grey smutches\nocclude the waters arms\n\ncomb jelly stretch\ntheir fine globes like a net\nover the moon"},{"id":2224,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/night-wood-by-jai-michelle-louissen\/","name":"night-wood-by-jai-michelle-louissen","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'Night Wood' by Jai Michelle Louissen","author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2025-04-03 09:16:22","modifiedDate":"2025-04-03 09:16:24","modifiedDateGMT":"2025-04-03 09:16:24","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":0,"sec":55},"status":"publish","excerpt":"as the night comes on\n\nthe woods idle\nin their nomenclature\n\ni peel open\nsilent amnion\n\nwhere stars are clawed\nfrom sand banks and\ntrees caul the sky\n\nand then it comes\nmemorious"},{"id":2218,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/season-2-episode-3-by-billie-manning\/","name":"season-2-episode-3-by-billie-manning","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'season 2 episode 3' by Billie Manning","author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2025-04-03 09:04:34","modifiedDate":"2025-04-03 09:14:28","modifiedDateGMT":"2025-04-03 09:14:28","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":1,"sec":29},"status":"publish","excerpt":"eleven months later there is one \/ sticky unsupervised week at home one \/ unchanged sheet on the fold out bed downstairs and we \/ make bowls of barbecue sauce pasta \/ and get rug burn \/ and it\u2019s even too hot in the garden \/ so i go and sit in the basement \/ put the skins box set on \/ choose the episode"},{"id":2215,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/this-again-by-jane-bonnyman\/","name":"this-again-by-jane-bonnyman","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'This Again' by Jane Bonnyman","author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2025-04-03 09:02:51","modifiedDate":"2025-04-03 09:03:06","modifiedDateGMT":"2025-04-03 09:03:06","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":0,"sec":45},"status":"publish","excerpt":"Now that the roof sags like plasticine, rooms are full of gloop\nand the walls bulge and slump, and everyone agrees it\u2019s no use,\nwe ditch the thing and split. You brush it off, like you always do,\nand zoom between trees, cross the river, and vanish into moorland\nto seek out another mate in the heather, while I hover, trying to heal"},{"id":2213,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/gerard-at-35-by-sue-norton\/","name":"gerard-at-35-by-sue-norton","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'Gerard at 35' by Sue Norton","author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2025-04-03 09:01:00","modifiedDate":"2025-04-03 09:01:02","modifiedDateGMT":"2025-04-03 09:01:02","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":1,"sec":5},"status":"publish","excerpt":"What sandwich? you ask, andGerard says Slug sandwich\nlaughing at your shock so much his tummy wobbles.Postman Pat\u2019s been his hero for thirty years, and he claps\nto greet the red van, as if each time is the first time.\nGerard has a blue clip-on tie and yellow smiley-face braces"},{"id":2211,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/in-the-morning-in-the-city-by-elizabeth-j-coleman\/","name":"in-the-morning-in-the-city-by-elizabeth-j-coleman","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'In the Morning in the City' by Elizabeth J. Coleman","author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2025-04-03 08:58:48","modifiedDate":"2025-04-03 08:58:50","modifiedDateGMT":"2025-04-03 08:58:50","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":1,"sec":27},"status":"publish","excerpt":"I watch the woman across the way comb\nher hair, and she watches me comb mine.\n\nI\u2019ll never understand why the bodega\nat the corner had to close, for it\u2019s there\n\nwe\u2019d buy yellow roses. I am a child of a man\nwho loved to sail, and a woman\n\nwho loved to do needlework.\nOn the other side of the door is the man\n\nwho, for over fifty years, has been my pearl\nperson, my moss person."},{"id":2208,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/the-bed-was-too-small-by-maritsa-grey\/","name":"the-bed-was-too-small-by-maritsa-grey","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'the bed was too small' by Maritsa Grey","author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2025-04-03 08:54:23","modifiedDate":"2025-04-03 08:55:01","modifiedDateGMT":"2025-04-03 08:55:01","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":2,"sec":1},"status":"publish","excerpt":"so we replaced the old mattress.\nThe memory foam I bought as a student and carried home on the bus, the place I slept before\u00a0\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 my home was the inside of your mouth\n\nNow, we share a super king, a bed for adults and tall boys\nthings we are not but could one day learn to become\n\nwe stretch out, our fingertips barely touching, and marvel at how much we will grow"},{"id":2204,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/i-lose-you-better-by-millie-woodrow\/","name":"i-lose-you-better-by-millie-woodrow","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'I lose you better' by Millie Woodrow","author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2025-04-03 08:49:10","modifiedDate":"2025-04-03 08:49:13","modifiedDateGMT":"2025-04-03 08:49:13","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":0,"sec":31},"status":"publish","excerpt":"I would\u2019ve buried you with crab apples\naround your hands and feet\n\nso that when the tree in the park flowers,\nfruits, and sheds\n\nI might remember your body in the waves\nat Chesil Beach, your thighs goosefleshed\nand shining."},{"id":2201,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/counting-back-the-milestones-by-jonathan-miller\/","name":"counting-back-the-milestones-by-jonathan-miller","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'Counting Back the Milestones' by Jonathan Miller","author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2025-04-02 22:20:25","modifiedDate":"2025-04-02 22:20:33","modifiedDateGMT":"2025-04-02 22:20:33","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":0,"sec":43},"status":"publish","excerpt":"We were there\nwhen he unmastered the pencil hold\nsloped from walking\nto just standing still\nfalling\nfrom unwindful beers\nto early years syllables\nsippy cup\ncot.\n\nWe oversaw the slide from che"},{"id":2197,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/the-night-i-start-my-period-i-dream-of-molly-by-caitlin-tina-jones\/","name":"the-night-i-start-my-period-i-dream-of-molly-by-caitlin-tina-jones","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'The night I start my period, I dream of Molly' by Caitlin Tina Jones","author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2025-04-02 22:13:42","modifiedDate":"2025-04-02 22:13:44","modifiedDateGMT":"2025-04-02 22:13:44","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":1,"sec":24},"status":"publish","excerpt":"and how often I watched her\nface flush, the way she sat\nin the park, her cheeks blotched\nlike a burst handful\nof cranberries. I was young then\nand unknown, svelte shadow, faceless\nand swinging around the metal bar\nof the bus stop. She fed me"},{"id":2195,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/nothing-like-the-wind-by-n-w-hicks\/","name":"nothing-like-the-wind-by-n-w-hicks","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'Nothing Like the Wind' by N. W. Hicks","author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2025-04-02 22:10:05","modifiedDate":"2025-04-02 22:10:08","modifiedDateGMT":"2025-04-02 22:10:08","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/love-and-loss-2025\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Love and Loss 2025<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":0,"sec":32},"status":"publish","excerpt":"Tonight, the moon is everything\nlike the moon,\nand the trees are just shadows\non the hill, and we are nothing\nlike the wind.\n\nWe are only\nthe fragile symmetry of two bodies\nbroken on the same clean sheet;"}]