Autumn term New shoes Pencil cases Scratchy shirts with names on them Who’s my teacher? Will my friends still like me? What is that at the bottom of the bag, from before A lifetime ago Different teacher: different world A world when it ran like a machine A bad-tempered machine Homework, gym kit, lunches, […]
Indian Summer – 100 words
Indian Summer Russet rustles in the trees – impatient, simmering Bracken starts to hunch Defeat on the air Flocks gather, skeins depart Tiny cellophane wings insist – buzzing furious insects, reprieved, make hay, drink blood, Fruit falls, wormy soft Tractors stripe the fields Fluffy seeds scatter and drift Landscape blurs, like old photos album-trapped […]
Empty landscape – 100 words
Empty landscape Wind turbines rolling lazy in front of layered sky. Alto stratus, rainbowed crystals and morning mists retreating to the river where smoothed rocks chatter and turn. Stretched shadows from black bales, winter feed for cattle still cropping, hoof-deep in mud by the trough, flicking flies from rumps. That gate, its weary post […]
Someone died – 100 words
Muffled – 100 words
Muffled Wrapped in activity. Silenced by lists. Unbalanced by notifications. Paralysed by piles that teeter – underpinned by hurry. Tormented by ticking time. Bewildered and frowning… how can it possibly now? Already. Unready. Too late. What was progress? Pursued by the howling of regret. Scrabbling, crabbily for a foot hold in the slippery rock, tugged […]
Self-starter – 100 words
Self-starter Do it Do it now Get off your arse Leave the sofa Stop scrolling That list won’t tick itself What are you waiting for? Tempus most assuredly fugit No more procrastinating Every minute is precious. Time must not be squandered The buck stops with you There are no magic pixies or knights in […]
Sunday night – 100 words
Sunday night Where is the cuddle in a solitary journey? Where is the sparkle in the uniform laundry? Where is the laugh til you pee in a video conference? Where is the treasure in the online groceries? Where is delight in something else that is broken? Where is the shooting star in the never-ending […]
Decisions – 100 words
Decisions Your first flat was a mansion of young love, cheap wine, and admiring your cleverness. You picked dried yolk yellow and kitchen plaster blue from its curtain swirls, told yourself it was retro, bought a matching sofa. Of course, it didn’t last. You Gloria Gaynored to the next place with your sofa, […]