ISBN: 978-1-915108-48-7
Published 27 September 2026
38 pages (pamphlet)
This pamphlet maps out a series of voyages: the external journeys through an often damaged world, the internal shifts and disturbances of the heart, and the liminal “spaces// untethered from where they are meant to be”. Flora Leask Arizpe is a poet who reaches beyond the obvious and settled ways of being and writing, Her poems will take you to places and moods you barely knew existed, and others you’ll never quite see in the same way again. Begin your voyage with the vagabonda!
*
Dogs Tooth Peak
The last time I saw John
he was already on the other side
of the Canigou mountain.
We had suffered a headache together
on the bus station tarmac, smoked
cigarettes that made us sick.
But that wasn’t the last time I saw him,
no, it was when I’d already left
& was looking out of the bus window,
not noticing, digging too far
into the origins of things –
then there he was on the other side
of the mountain, as the ghosts
of a man & woman
sped past on a motorbike;
he was smoking on his balcony,
already planning to spend his year
in the wasteland, already waiting,
not for my return, but to die
(perhaps in the mouth of the Pyrénées-Orientales),
only to wake up, one day suddenly
barefoot on the streets of Paris. To be reborn.
*
“Vagabonda encompasses existence: wildfire and wonder, morning boredom and kissing among mushrooms. At times, equivocal imagery (‘wasps flying out of our mouths’) resolves with Phoebe Bridgers-like candour (‘we are more than the sum of each other’s parts’). Vagabonda may be a pamphlet, but it is also a passport: polyglottal, antipodal, yet intimate. A much-anticipated debut from an already-respected Scottish poet.” —Taylor Strickland
“Flora Leask Arizpe delineates landscapes, languages & intimacy in poems that feel both timeless & urgently contemporary. Vagabonda is a brave exploration of travel, desire & impermanence where every image lingers – a true companion for the restless & searching. Her voice is lyrical, daring & unforgettable – a poet of rare clarity & vision.”
—Janette Ayachi
