Cherrypicked stories

When I was a lad I worked on big ships. Here I describe the Suez Canal stretch of a sea passage from Quebec City in Canada to Colombo in Sri Lanka round about 1977. Our ship was loaded with a bulk cargo of poverty relief grain financed by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA). Some of my writing is an embellishment of the truth and a little bit of it is the result of pure imagination, but this poem is as near to the truth as I could get whilst attempting to remain poetic.

The Sinisterish Milkman (For Halloween) The sinisterish milkman from the world's end dairy has a glint in the eye that makes you wary and clinking...

As he passed knocked my friend on the head from behind, no time took him down a much bigger guy, Rooikat (lit “Red Cat”) the youngster pumping like a...

Just another gig! I look out over the crowd. I wonder ‘how has this sight become ‘just another gig’?” Turning to the others, I smile as Rod tickles...

Rant. Nothing to see here Sharp-eyed readers will note that the graphic is a mirror-image of the tiktok logo, So it's not the tiktok logo... If they try and complain, I'll remove it. Simples.

Tide We are watching football. Bellingham skates on Wembley ice. Our phones bleep with news and more news. Italy score, but we own the tide. There is...

What lay beneath the soil? (Image from Pixabay.

THE HALL OF GLASS COFFINS Every winter in Rome, one of the starlings migrating to the Mediterranean from the northern hemisphere detaches itself from...