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So, where from here? I have a plan. So far, the plan is on track – it has optimism-bias (pessimism) and R&R built in. But the emotional bit can’t be planned for – only dealt with. It’s over two months since I last did any work, and that was a course. The plan says: R&R; socialising; birthdays; improving Spanish to a point where I can understand colleagues, students and speak to them; develop a working knowledge of English grammar (thanks...

Thank you to Bee for her fabulous performance poetry idea last month. It was really successful and a luxury to watch and listen to lots of superb poetry with a cup of tea and a packet of chocolate covered nutty biscuits. Here are three cracking performance pieces, do follow the links to hear the sound bites: londoncalling brings home to life. Dark and brooding with unmistakeable fondness: http://www.abctales.com/story/londoncalling79/home-poetry...

I wasn’t sure how to structure this. I’d a vague idea about explaining the significance of the tax-credit U-turn by George Osborne and the jibes about Mao’s Little Red Book , a joke that backfired and made the Shadow Chancellor seem the more foolish. I also thought about telling you about my visit to the dentist. We are an ageing nation of shrinking gums. So I guess I’ll start there. I’m good on nostalgia. The dentist I go to is the same dentist...

I’m delighted to be able to pass on the news concerning the Poem and Story of the Month award for November 2015: Poem of the Month goes to Johnshade for ‘Autumn.’ A love affair told with startling and visceral beauty, a truly poetic insight into desire, the words arranged with such care and precision that it breathes a life on the page. http://www.abctales.com/story/johnshade/autumn Story of the Month goes to Culturehero for ‘into the grey...

My hand upon it… I feel its warmth; its rough bark is pliant under my hand. I feel the breeze as the branches above move with the wind. I look up and smile as a lone leaf drifts down onto my shoulder. It is beauty…it is alive…it stands tall and proud and timeless…and breathes life for us. I have always felt an affinity with trees. I cannot say why...but standing among them I am calmed and I am able to think and relax. What it is about these...

The deepest wounds are hidden behind the most beautiful scars. They are left by the people who mattered the most. They signify the absence of their essence. The wounds still pain when the scars are pressed hard. The people likewise are still missed deep within the heart, they possess their special place and no matter how much you love the next person, their place will always be empty as they are not there. People unlike furniture are...

Lisa Hinsley is a prodigiously talented writer and an inspirational woman. I'm delighted to announce that her piece Child is our story of the week: http://www.abctales.com/story/lisa-h/child Pat G has written a memorable poem packed with spirituality. There are so many ways to interpret this piece. It's a beauty: Muse This week's inspiration point is "Look beneath the surface". The loosest interpretation is encouraged. Good luck! Have a great...

http://www.abctales.com/story/truth42/nice-see-you Near the end of Ropeburns, author and narrator, Ian Probert, bumps into Rob Douglas. If you’re like me you’ll not have a clue who Rob Douglas is. You’d know who Rab Douglas is – the ex-Celtic goalie that kept making a hash of it in the biggest matches of the season, most notably against Rangers. Football always finds a new way to smack you in the mouth, and I’m biased that way. Think Nick Hornby...

It's been a wonderful week for posting on ABCTales and consequently it's been really hard to pick the best of the best - especially prose - but here are my choices: Poem of the Week goes to Michael S R Valentine for Horreur a Paris - a powerful and heartfelt reaction written in the immediate aftermath of recent events. The Story of the Week is Terrence Oblong's Getting Fat, a quite extraordinary piece. It's not his usual style. Do read both and...

This week I’m reading about the attack on Paris. I don’t need to tell you about it. The media is full of front-line news on continual loop. It’s got that feel of 9/11 about it, but closer to home. Last week I was reading Reportage, Cemetery of Lost Souls , photographer Giles Duley on the Greek Island of Lesbos, where many refugees end up on the beach. Some die, as the image of the Syrian boy that went global show. Perhaps it softened Western...