The dust has settled on Christmas and New Year and we hope all our readers are hale and hearty. Now it’s time to get back to poetry, and here are the most popular five poems from the November and December postings. Usual drill. Please vote, and the poll will close and the winner be announced on 12th January. The author of the winning poem will receive the customary Algebra of Owls prize mug.

• Kwa-Zulu Natal, late August – by Fiona Cartwright
• Lawrence – by Robert Ford
• falling to the floor, a flight of gloves – by Jane Burn
• The foal from the Batagai crater – by Devon Balwit
• My Mother Came Back as a Pigeon – by Michelle Diaz