Is it better to be good or honest? Ailsa Gillies reflects on the lineage of ‘good’ people that have come before her, noting that self-sacrifice is not romantic, but a quiet stirring of resentment and grief. Continue reading Inherited Goods
Big Feelings in a small world. This poem comes from the healing found from internal reconciliation, not from the repentance of those who hurt you. Continue reading Big Feelings
A reflection on martyrdom, the lack of nobility in suffering and self-sacrifice drawing on both the parallels between Camus’ Myth of Sisyphus & the Christ image of bearing the cross. Continue reading Handmade Holes
A poetic follow-on from Prodigal Son, a dialogue with a shedding persona, Ailsa Gillies makes an empowered declaration of what it means to embody the Self. Continue reading Crystallised Self
A lament for all those who were ever told they were ‘too soft’, ‘too sensitive’ or told to ‘toughen up’.
Ailsa Gillies uses the extended metaphor of a lamb to symbolise the predatory behaviour of the corporate world that exploit and shame vulnerabilities and kindness. Continue reading The Lamb’s Lament
‘How easy humans are to love when they’re not performing’, says Ailsa Gillies in this piece that finds reverence in the ordinary and compassion for humans when they’re the most ‘themselves’. Continue reading A Psalm from the Window
Transformation. Death and rebirths. The duality of beauty and pain. The messiness that comes with ‘pomegranates’, the metaphor for a life rich with experience.
These are all the things that Ailsa Gillies explores in this visceral and raw piece of lyrical prose. Continue reading The Price of Pomegranates
This love poem, set in the Tuscan mountains, intertwines two cultures through the symbolism of the olive & the rose. Ailsa Gillies explores love as a journey, not a destination – a celebration of the moments between milestones and the creation that takes place when two become one. Continue reading Olives & Roses
There’s a child in you, and it’s waiting for you to ask: Who am I? Ailsa Gillies’s lyrical prose flows like the words of a wise guide, urging you to reconcile with your inner child to find your purpose. Continue reading Inner Child
Ailsa Gillies tells the story of survival, adaptation, and the blurred line between man and nature in this thought-provoking poem. Like the beginning of a strange joke—a man walks into a bar—this poem unfolds in smoky corners and crowded city streets, where a mysterious figure, disguised as a man, shares their tale of loss and resilience. The ultimate punchline? Nature has a way of reminding us it’s always watching, even in the heart of the concrete jungle. Continue reading Urban Refugee
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