Playing with the Sea

https://videopress.com/v/mK8RMJef?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true It was harmless fun at first. Embracing the waves. Sitting in the pools created by them. Dreamily gazing out to sea. But then, and I knew it as I saw it approaching - a wave bigger, stronger, faster. White water over my body - enveloping me, lifting me, throwing me onto the rocks. As … Continue reading Playing with the Sea

Postcard from the North

Dearest, I am writing to say thanks for thinking of me but no thanks. My hands are in the soil and my body in the water and my mouth is singing. These things take me away from you and the world we inhabit together. Let me go, for trying to stay splinters who I am … Continue reading Postcard from the North

Pardon me … if I don’t Trust your Hallucinations

They say the granite sparkles. Aye, in the sun, a lovely sparkle. She tries to see it, face up against the stone and in the ends decides - It is an hallucination from living this far North, surrounded by grey and (possibly) granite radioactivity affecting their sight. She makes a joke to that effect and … Continue reading Pardon me … if I don’t Trust your Hallucinations

February Fragments

2. Groundhog Day is grey, Winter is over & Spring? a snowfall away. 9. Snow, snow and more snow. Minus temperatures at night & garden swimming. 17. Snowdrops - first flowers. This year we leave them growing for you, are not here. 24. The wind feels warmer. Birds chirp in the trees, buds swell & … Continue reading February Fragments

The Dog Needs Botox

A sestina. with the six repeating words chosen by jess, john & sveta. He gets up every morning at 6am to walk the dog. At this time of year, the ground is thick with frost – the stars his guiding light. Walking feeds his soul and prepares him for home, where she, and conflict await. … Continue reading The Dog Needs Botox

Darkness is your country

A tritina inspired by Ursula le guin's 1983 'a left-handed commencement address' To wander alone, late at night, in the dark is foolish. Who knows what might happen to women out there? Best stay safe indoors. House. Home. Hearth = Indoors. These are spaces built to exclude the dark and protect a family. In particular … Continue reading Darkness is your country

Bambi

He kindly agreed to drive her to the station, despite the early morning shadow fog. His weathered hands grip the steering wheel as he peers short-sightedly into the gloom. She should have insisted on driving herself - just how much can he actually see? She strains her eyes for him and watches the road in … Continue reading Bambi

Nearly Two

Dear Readers, It has been a mental year. The Brexit merry-go-round continues with predictably awful consequences. Over a million people have died from Covid and infection rates rise/fall/rise. Police keep killing unarmed black civilians. There have been riots. Protests. Strikes. Another global recession and U.S. election is upon us. As well as floods. Forest fires. … Continue reading Nearly Two

Abandon(ed)

Rest, she said & left me, one morning in July, for I was weary & heartsore in these mad, Covid times. I rested, like she told me, watched time pass slowly by & only now has she returned, delighting in this rhyme. Hello, I said, How are you? She smiled, was almost shy, I’ve barely … Continue reading Abandon(ed)