Cherrypicked stories
Punching the air in euphoria
Archive footage was found by the South Bank Show -a home recording by one of his nieces of the moment that he created pathos
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- 1297 reads
The Oak Tree
There was never enough light in this house, no matter how bright the sunshine was outside. The hallway was the same dark green it had been the day I'd bundled my hastily packed rucksack out of the door vowing never to return. So many shadows here and that smell: medicine and over-cooked food lingering in the thick, dark air. The clatter of crockery from the kitchen where my mother was preparing the tea.
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- 1147 reads
Like George Best
he told me about playing football with George Best their interchange of passes which resulted in a spectacular overhead kick.
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- 1582 reads
Cheeses
you need to be there to feed the chickens
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- 1713 reads
Loving London
Loving London It didn't matter to him that her skin, smattered like a tube map, woke up ugly and raw, that he could not remember the names of any of the routes or the full stops of her tongue and temper.
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- 1510 reads
Father Time
"Anything?" questioned Pegasus. "Would you give me your dignity, your soul, the lives of your wife and children? Would you give up your freedom and live as a slave? Allow the damnation of all the innocent on earth? Would you give me all of that, so that you may live?
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- 850 reads
White Space (Words 4291)
White Space (Words 4291) Lee Walker pressed down, down, down on the list of names until he saw Taylor Ball. He hesitated then dialled. After five rings, a voice: "Lee? "Mate, yeah. It's me, Lee.
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- 1495 reads
Eschatology
I've pretty much nicked the first line of this from Joe Dunthorne. So, kudos to him.
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- 1451 reads
The Prey.
What foolish whim brought me to take the path through the park tonight? I should have taken the longer route home, safe in the bright lights and crowded streets. Instead I was lured by the promise of fresh air, breezes gently caressing my face swirling my long chestnut-coloured hair around my face in a merry dance of freedom. The October night is full of sounds, drumming on my sensitive ears like rain pounding against the windows I can never hope to see. I hoist my gym bag over my shoulder, taking comfort in the contents, knowing I have done all I can to protect myself from harm.
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- 1181 reads
First Wave
My brother's home is his fortress. The drive is a runway. The garage is a hangar. Cars and SUV's ready for deployment.
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- 998 reads
Statistics
I don't know if this works or not, but I'm kind of fond of it.
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- 3871 reads
I made a grown woman cry tonight
I said her heart was all gristle and her lungs were rolled-up cereal packets and her spine was collapsible
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- 1783 reads
Prelude to a grope
This is a speed poem, For the record, if anyone can figure out what is going on in the poem, it did not happen to me. It did however happen to a close friend. It is sad that I felt the need to justify, but there you go.
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- 2023 reads
Avalanche
At first there were crumbs, toast at pace, then it chased me like an incoming tide until finally, the snow rolled like mist but thick as meringue.
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- 1575 reads
I live in a case of cloth
I live in a case of cloth, every day swaddles me closer to my breasts, to my breathing. I leave the house with my butter bean eyes, casseroling the sky, mostly looking out for sin. People often ask me if the abacus under my eyes,
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- 1953 reads
Chinese Whispers

I guess there was no way of knowing that things would turn out like this. As I stood and stared out across the moonlit, mountain vista, I reflected back on what had led up to this moment. When you're a mile high in the sky the air seems so much clearer and your thoughts become crystallised like a moth caught in an arctic freeze.
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- 3515 reads
001 A little bit of history, repeating
She watches the removal van gurn and growl down the road containing a whole load of something and nothing.
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- 2464 reads
Opportunity
I keep mulling over what was said Passing it between my hands like a warm ball of dough. When I was younger I used to let the sea direct my movements. I would stand just beyond the reach of its sputum-covered fingers as they were
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- 992 reads