Each day I wake up with one intent: to write as much as I can. In the morning I’ll start off with some journaling and a poem. I can often find time for a blog post here and there, but my sticking point is stories. Short stories come easier than longer ones, but the hardest … Continue reading Tea, biscuits and self-sabotage: a writer’s reflections on procrastination
Creativity
The Valkyries
The Valkyries were ridinga crescendo nearing peakThe blues played on behind thembut I was too in awe to speakThey rode that day a second timefrom the pages of a bookI wondered would they ride a thirdbut was too afraid to lookThe battles I’ve been fightingare within and not withoutMy courage slow to risingin a head … Continue reading The Valkyries
Salary
If celery were salary perhaps we’d all live healthily but money’s bought and money’s sold no longer backed by the price of gold the salt of the earth if you work hard enough not worth your salt if the getting gets tough in times of Rome it was salt you see whose ownership would set … Continue reading Salary
The winds of change
It creeps up without notice soft and stealthy on the breezeA growing sense of discomforta burgeoning uneaseYou wonder how you got here doing nothing but the sameStaying still won’t stave its coming when you’re playing the long game It announces its arrival like a big slap in the faceKnocking you lopsided when all was poise … Continue reading The winds of change
In the game
Her heart hammered in her chest and her breath came in short, sharp gasps. Her focus was entirely on this last lap of the pool, not the other competitors, nor the time on the clock. For these moments she embodied one singular purpose: winning. She concentrated on her stroke, practised to near perfection. There was … Continue reading In the game
The Silent Sparrow
The house sparrows felt at home in the noise and din of another day Chirping, chirruping, chattering, tweeting all they had to say Banter was their birth-right, they made their presence known Quarrel by name and nature, seeds of gossip daily sewn But one young sparrow merely listened, to the chatter of all the rest … Continue reading The Silent Sparrow
The Straw That Did It
‘Well what on earth did you do that for?’ Sue asked, as she set the iron carefully down on the ironing board and turned it off at the plug. Ron muted the TV and shifted in his armchair to face her, ‘Well I didn’t know did I? Thought he was gonna shoot the lot of … Continue reading The Straw That Did It
Bad Grammar
As soon as I started a tale with a subordinating conjunction The insubordinate ones ran off, all noise and wild rambunction The coordinating conjunctions were nowhere to be found They’d left in perfect synchronicity, for that’s how they get around Yet is it really necessary to have so many junctions in this life? To write … Continue reading Bad Grammar
Bird’s Eye View
The red breasted Robin was brazen in her people watching waysStudying them with fascinationoften watching one for daysShe held a theory about peoplekept close to her red breastBut the time had come to journeyput her hypothesis to test She traversed the world by magnetism was floored by what she foundTribes and factions, hostile reactions, polarisation … Continue reading Bird’s Eye View
The Day We Moved the Tank
The day we moved the hot water tank Marked the start of the week that we all stank The one that nearly broke the bank On the day we moved the hot water tank The taps ran dry but we were knee high In that watery stuff as my tears did gush, adding to the … Continue reading The Day We Moved the Tank