Mortality Games
By Parson Thru
A game for all the family
- 1171 reads
A man walked into a bar
The End
- Read more about A man walked into a bar
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 675 reads
All change here
Additional stop at Great Salvation
- Read more about All change here
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 807 reads
Blue
I had a cat named 'Blue' rhymed with Kalamazoo Grey with stripes a tabby My mother hated cats a family thing One suffocated a child allegedly But he was only six weeks old A kitten
- Read more about Blue
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 754 reads
Dad
Afraid he’s passed away? Oh, thank you. Well… that’s ok. You see… we thought he might. He wasn’t meant to last the night.
- Read more about Dad
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 713 reads
Dreaming of my dad
I’d forgotten how much he said with his eyes. A man of few words. Happy to sit most of the time in his window seat, reading his paper or lost in contemplation.
- Read more about Dreaming of my dad
- 13 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1818 reads
Funeral
There must be a funeral going on somewhere Miserable day for it
- Read more about Funeral
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 655 reads
I want to phone my brother
You can't
- Read more about I want to phone my brother
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 525 reads
John
Just a little short. Sun's shining - bike's in the garage.
- Read more about John
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 423 reads
Marion's hairbrush
Blackened silver plate and matted bristles stare accusingly from foetid water in the shared recycling bin
- Read more about Marion's hairbrush
- 16 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1011 reads
Monday
I arrived into the office full of the usual start of week melancholy and immediately detected a far deeper gloom already present.
- Read more about Monday
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 328 reads
Monday (2)
I laboured through the day.
- Read more about Monday (2)
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 334 reads
Send no flowers
Quicky thru the train window.
- Read more about Send no flowers
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 531 reads
The bar
He walked into the bar. At the tables sat the usual faces, mulling their drinks. Each bottle and glass was covered in sticky red fingerprints.
- Read more about The bar
- 18 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1030 reads
The darkening of the garden
Watching God rotate
- Read more about The darkening of the garden
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 978 reads
The Grim Raver
Where'd that come from then?
- Read more about The Grim Raver
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 774 reads
Thoughts from a sofa
A ramble
- Read more about Thoughts from a sofa
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1013 reads
Visiting Jack
What did you die for, Jack? I ask as I sit by your grave a long way from home and take in the sun and the cooling breeze of a French morning like you would have known
- Read more about Visiting Jack
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 754 reads
What did you die for Jack?
Rewrite 7 October 2012
- Read more about What did you die for Jack?
- 16 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 999 reads
To The Dead!
The two friends stood looking down into the grave as the first shovels of dirt clattered on the coffin lid.
- Read more about To The Dead!
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1004 reads
Walls have ears
Continuing adventures
- Read more about Walls have ears
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 883 reads
The three amigos
How news travels fast
- Read more about The three amigos
- 18 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1948 reads
The turning of the tide
La discusión sobre el filete / The lost supper
- Read more about The turning of the tide
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 402 reads
The reading
How Javier relented and became reacquainted with his friend
- Read more about The reading
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 741 reads
Sunday evening
I’ve just had a full-on attack of consciousness. Wandering about the flat of a Sunday evening, I mixed myself an Aperol spritz in the kitchen and...
- Read more about Sunday evening
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 364 reads
The dying
So the putrid, sick body dies beneath us – we who haven’t already died living – and the industry moves in to keep us out of sight.
- Read more about The dying
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 303 reads
A fairly pointless ramble
As I said...
- Read more about A fairly pointless ramble
- Log in to post comments
- 183 reads
The visit
I have no idea how long I’d been asleep. Maybe an hour or two, maybe less. Someone was playing guitar – quite well. Better than I could have. But so...
- Read more about The visit
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 656 reads
Never look down
Walking the edge The razor’s edge Don’t look down Look straight ahead Smile Play to the crowd Keep moving - always Riding the the gusts Wait... Use...
- Read more about Never look down
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 513 reads
Cantarme
A song for all the fake hobos
- Read more about Cantarme
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 453 reads
Question
My God! What is family? Where is home? And who are these people I love being around if not family? And where is this place if not home? Where is life...
- Read more about Question
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 337 reads
Bumping along
38,000ft over Biscay. Bouncing around the sky like we’re all going to die soon and I’m chuckling, embarrassingly, at HST’s “Fear and Loathing”. The...
- Read more about Bumping along
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 284 reads
Sorry
I'm sorry for the double / treble spacing, but at this point.......
- Read more about Sorry
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 277 reads
Good Friday
I just coughed on the touch-screen. Nightmare.
- Read more about Good Friday
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 328 reads
Today
An interesting thought: a sense of danger is a key animal faculty for survival. It develops from childhood, overpowering us in old age. They key to...
- Read more about Today
- Log in to post comments
- 139 reads
A universe in a box?
Kerouac is telling me of the Universal Mind. I like the idea, but not sure my practical mind can accept it. How about the universe in a mind? Each...
- Read more about A universe in a box?
- Log in to post comments
- 146 reads
Girl on a horse
I’ve never seen her so happy So naturally fitting the scene Each photograph a testament To a woman and her dream Observe the girl on horse-back...
- Read more about Girl on a horse
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 527 reads
See me?
Standing in my father's shoes
- Read more about See me?
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 511 reads
Listen!
The grass has been cut for the very first time.
- Read more about Listen!
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 414 reads
Happy Easter!
Healthy living. No such thing.
- Read more about Happy Easter!
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 372 reads
After Jack
I got to thinking
- Read more about After Jack
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 469 reads
Keep in touch
After a while, you get used to the sound of the shelling. So it’s hard to imagine a world without it. I can usually tell ours from theirs – theirs...
- Read more about Keep in touch
- 13 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1482 reads
Poppies
Move along. Nothing to see. Scarlet. Arterial. Irregular. Tragedy not long gone. Aftermath. Aftershock. Immediate. Not yet dulled. The pain. Sharp in...
- Read more about Poppies
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 221 reads
Scribbles
It occurred to me while contemplating these scribbles that most of them are attempts at capturing the moment when two or more souls recognise each...
- Read more about Scribbles
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 400 reads
Friday prayers
Filed under Miscellaneous to defeat Plato and Aristotle
- Read more about Friday prayers
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1244 reads
Modulation
Music drifting through the trees. A summer's day borne on a breeze.
- Read more about Modulation
- Log in to post comments
- 162 reads
Post-trauma
Last Tangle in Paris
- Read more about Post-trauma
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 494 reads
On reading the headlines
I broke my news blackout on the train home tonight
- Read more about On reading the headlines
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 439 reads
Something missing
Life overtaking youth
- Read more about Something missing
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 674 reads
Thursday tomorrow
It's Thursday tomorrow Hurray! Another weekend and a lie-in But we're all getting old and we're dying Hurray! Hurray! We're all getting old and we're...
- Read more about Thursday tomorrow
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 399 reads
The gun
It didn’t really matter where he picked up his work. The people were always ok. The money was reliable. They always paid on time and it was enough to...
- Read more about The gun
- Log in to post comments
- 205 reads
See you again
A signal drifting out
- Read more about See you again
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 342 reads
The years
You bear them You name them You spin them off You hope not to bury them Then they become like you A name given by someone else Brand new in a distant...
- Read more about The years
- Log in to post comments
- 194 reads
A solstice death
Samhain sets the scene. Yule closes it.
- Read more about A solstice death
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 458 reads
Song for a soul
More strange than any page of fiction Deeper and more raw than all the words of Sophocles, Shakespeare or Stoppard More beautiful and out of reach...
- Read more about Song for a soul
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 340 reads
Beautiful
Oh, beautiful An empty mind in which thoughts can swim A place for dreams to meet A world of whispered messages Fractal scenes without an end I sense...
- Read more about Beautiful
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 387 reads
Blow wind Blow
Blow, wind, blow! Your chorus and your overture The howling pain of every soul Moans against my window Rage, storm, rage! You are the spirit of the...
- Read more about Blow wind Blow
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1027 reads
God bless
Funerals. Bittersweet. Depends on the circumstance, I suppose. We’re going through the passing of a lot of people right now. A big family. It’s the...
- Read more about God bless
- 20 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 970 reads
Auchwitz-Birkenau 70
How could one human being enslave another? How could anyone design and operate a business whose purpose was to kill fellow human beings in cold blood...
- Read more about Auchwitz-Birkenau 70
- Log in to post comments
- 167 reads
Barking at dogs
I wake to the sound of people barking at dogs and I’m back My mind replaying meaningless scenes Dreams of reality Head spinning with things I need to...
- Read more about Barking at dogs
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 493 reads
Two souls
Two souls roaming Drifting without end In emptiness Seeking satisfaction Knowing that there is none Filling in our time Without any reason Trying...
- Read more about Two souls
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 278 reads
Enjoy the roses
Don't kid yourself that life is all gingham curtains and flowers on the table. You're only putting off the inevitable torment. Keeping reality at bay...
- Read more about Enjoy the roses
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 345 reads
First call of the cuckoo
Eastertide
- Read more about First call of the cuckoo
- Log in to post comments
- 133 reads
You and I are a binary star
You and I are a binary star I'm so in love with what we are You and I are a binary star Our light will shine clear and far You and I are a binary...
- Read more about You and I are a binary star
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 241 reads
It hit me this evening
It hit me this evening: the passage of time; of things, events, memories and people; people just like you and I. I remember the models: Spitfires,...
- Read more about It hit me this evening
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 439 reads
Night-thoughts
It always seems set against you Victories Little wins eclipsed by failure If you stand still it overtakes you I guess that's why you have to keep on...
- Read more about Night-thoughts
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 409 reads
Just like the sun
Lying in this field in June's evening light I think about three things: how we're born, how we die, and about the sun that burns my face; how these...
- Read more about Just like the sun
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 300 reads
Let's check out forever
Let's check out forever sometime See how long it lasts
- Read more about Let's check out forever
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 442 reads
Her dream
Drifting down upon a river Secrets open to the sky
- Read more about Her dream
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 347 reads
Earthstruck
I’m reading my course-book on the train. It’s one of those July evenings when the sun details buildings and illuminates trees as rain etches...
- Read more about Earthstruck
- Log in to post comments
- 179 reads
Step Inside
So long. So long ago, I fell for you. I was eleven. You were thirty and married. I carried your photograph, from a newspaper, I think. Beaming smile...
- Read more about Step Inside
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 430 reads
Samos
I watch the autumn leaves drift by Turning, tumbling, sinking to the mud Autumn's great farewell A fleet of waterboatmen dart through sycamore and...
- Read more about Samos
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 452 reads
Inner-dramas - Rabanal
It didn’t rain all the way from Astorga to here, but I can see it’s just started falling in the simple stone street outside the window. Like so many...
- Read more about Inner-dramas - Rabanal
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 346 reads
On meeting Jesus – an imagined argument
I had an imagined argument. It was along the lines of “What would you ask Jesus if you met him?” It bubbled to the surface whilst thinking about the...
- Read more about On meeting Jesus – an imagined argument
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 367 reads
Becalmed
No wind Or rain No rivers Or trees No people Or conversation No sun Or moon No motion Or pain No sacred Santiago No scattering-wide of souls A...
- Read more about Becalmed
- 18 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1157 reads
The witness
He woke with a pale-blue sound in his ears, like an empty sky. It sounded like peace. It looked like a dream, but he knew it wasn’t, on account of...
- Read more about The witness
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 208 reads
The untimely passing of truth
Out of the shower of anguish comes the blood and guts of it all We shake our heads in dismay and disbelief Blame is laid alongside the remains and...
- Read more about The untimely passing of truth
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 269 reads
Journey's end
It looms large for some reason tonight, The loss of these things: Life, Breath, The beating heart, The old familiarities. The scar on your thumb. The...
- Read more about Journey's end
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 180 reads
Thoughts of a madman
God awoke and rolled away from the sun that streamed through the window into his eyes. His mouth was dry and he needed to piss. Reluctantly, he gave...
- Read more about Thoughts of a madman
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 633 reads
En los Jardines del cabo Noval
I'm watching the kids playing football in the sun. There are many times when I sit and think there’s nothing more to write – that I have nothing more...
- Read more about En los Jardines del cabo Noval
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 299 reads
Stuff and nonsense
The bathroom is a great place to contemplate the divide between the spiritual and the temporal – the pure and the corrupt. A fitting setting to...
- Read more about Stuff and nonsense
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 304 reads
A rainy night in York
History is flooding back from all directions. The low brick building passed on the bus, boarded-up and abandoned, I’m sure is where my mam and dad...
- Read more about A rainy night in York
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 397 reads
Everything is gone
The infinite silence
- Read more about Everything is gone
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 578 reads
The Alps Cranial
I found them on the back of my head The Alps Cranial Hiding god-knows-what beneath They must have been present in school-boy days Beneath the tufts...
- Read more about The Alps Cranial
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 169 reads
Making the most of it
It took a beat-up, pungent tramp passing through the Metro this morning to remind me that a healthy life is one of distraction – denial of one’s true...
- Read more about Making the most of it
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 373 reads
Hope springs eternal
Is God simply Hope? Where are we without Hope? Where are you and I? Why drag ourselves through the hardship and the tragedy? For a few all too scarce...
- Read more about Hope springs eternal
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 245 reads
She follows me in dreams
Not really haiku
- Read more about She follows me in dreams
- Log in to post comments
- 135 reads
Hereditary fears
His face is twisted, mouth contorted, demons dancing ring-a-roses round his head Brow creased, ears filled with voices jibing, teasing, criticising...
- Read more about Hereditary fears
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 723 reads
Raking up the past
“I love you, son.” “I love you, too, dad.” It’s all I can remember of the pained conversation, crouching on the footpath. One of us kissed the other...
- Read more about Raking up the past
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 218 reads
Night
It's life It's absolutely life Cody In a borrowed suit Denver downtown Catching dames staring Awkward Me Home by six Keeping going Doing Thinking...
- Read more about Night
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 382 reads
Time
You’re watching yourself in the mirror and seeing the setting sun
- Read more about Time
- Log in to post comments
- 97 reads
The need to know
The two men sat across the table from one another. To look at them, they might have been father and son. They were brothers. The younger one spoke...
- Read more about The need to know
- Log in to post comments
- 141 reads
Fall to Earth
There’s still some time to dream
- Read more about Fall to Earth
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 186 reads
Another soul
And another soul passes One among tens of thousands today Some of them screaming He, quietly holding the side of the bed Waiting But he was my soul...
- Read more about Another soul
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 184 reads
The wind in the wood
With love
- Read more about The wind in the wood
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 143 reads
Diminishing returns
I think of my head inside this world, within this existence, and I'm thinking “Fractal”. But where is order? So I picture kaleidoscope landscapes of...
- Read more about Diminishing returns
- Log in to post comments
- 136 reads
Time and motion
It seemed so natural then
- Read more about Time and motion
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 272 reads
Fear of existence
Fiction based on real-life events... and a few musings. Approach inspired by JK.
- Read more about Fear of existence
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 551 reads
Tonight
I got done by the Chinese shop Well and truly stitched Not their fault I should have said something Or just walked away and left the bag But I didn't...
- Read more about Tonight
- Log in to post comments
- 140 reads
Daisy
I am no more than a daisy A daisy with awareness And some vague idea Of its place within the universe
- Read more about Daisy
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 147 reads
Mulanje and the sky
Inspired by a forgotten photo
- Read more about Mulanje and the sky
- Log in to post comments
- 149 reads
A problem shared
Fare thee well / welfare and the shared experience of unique beings
- Read more about A problem shared
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 264 reads
Knowing time.
I’m in my local café having breakfast: coffee and toast. This place suits my temperament. There’s nearly always an empty table, Salsa plays on the...
- Read more about Knowing time.
- Log in to post comments
- 133 reads
Restless
Restless, I roll onto my side and reach into the darkness for the switch.
- Read more about Restless
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 164 reads
Reina Sofia
From a bench. Watching. Thinking. Being.
- Read more about Reina Sofia
- Log in to post comments
- 227 reads
Fissure
Our ghosts live within, maybe
- Read more about Fissure
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 263 reads
Four young men on a playing field
Everyday impossibilities.
- Read more about Four young men on a playing field
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 219 reads
The race against Time
Time lifts his finger from your tail and your feet scratch at the earth
- Read more about The race against Time
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 151 reads
We are here
I gave up counting poles and settled for the rise and fall of wires Thoughts setting out on journeys of their own oblivious to strangers’...
- Read more about We are here
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 225 reads
SITREP
Waiting, out, in No Man’s Land
- Read more about SITREP
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 455 reads
The awakening
For Bernard (1939 - 2017)
- Read more about The awakening
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 289 reads
What God is
God is oil God is gas God is a Tomahawk up your ass
- Read more about What God is
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 461 reads
Patio thoughts
What sights have these olive trees known? What sounds? Today, the tranquility of a museum patio; the fountain’s soothing trickle. In years past,...
- Read more about Patio thoughts
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 239 reads
Glorious Dead
Where is the glory? Who gains?
- Read more about Glorious Dead
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 236 reads
Trying to understand time
Amateur ramblings inspired by a visit to the Lee Lozano exhibition. Only read if interested in such ramblings.
- Read more about Trying to understand time
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 214 reads
The elephant
For corporals everywhere
- Read more about The elephant
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 242 reads
To those who lost their footing
I’m spending more and more time telling myself I no longer care.
- Read more about To those who lost their footing
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 184 reads
What poetry is
Wow is woW spelled backwards. The muse isn't with me on this trip.
- Read more about What poetry is
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 378 reads
One for the road
A quiet moment
- Read more about One for the road
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 214 reads
Inheritance
I caught him last night, in that sideways glance
- Read more about Inheritance
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 430 reads
Golden hour
The sun slants, bright and golden, down Calle de Alcalá. Poetry Monthly - September.
- Read more about Golden hour
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 295 reads
Living with the curse
Why can't we be like daisies?
- Read more about Living with the curse
- Log in to post comments
- 62 reads
This is what love is
For N
- Read more about This is what love is
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 110 reads
Filling time - 2
William picked a stone up from the water’s edge. He turned it over and saw that the moist surface was covered in small black snails. He picked up...
- Read more about Filling time - 2
- 15 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 254 reads
Apparition
You wandering bag of cancers Innumerable tragic parts How can you stand and look like that? As though nothing’s going on
- Read more about Apparition
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 130 reads
So long
Everything to come and all there ever was
- Read more about So long
- 14 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 370 reads
The thing with our birthdays
When all’s said and done It’s just some miracle trick of light
- Read more about The thing with our birthdays
- Log in to post comments
- 47 reads
Contact
The two men looked at each other. The sun was hot. Even the air burned. Moments before, they had startled each other. Neither man had been sure what to do next.
- Read more about Contact
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 137 reads
Worse ways to go
Inspired by T.S. Eliot "The Waste Land"
- Read more about Worse ways to go
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 87 reads
What is this life
What is this life, so full of holes This broken dream of drifting souls
- Read more about What is this life
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 228 reads
In the bottom of a boat
A prose poem
- Read more about In the bottom of a boat
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 105 reads
Carboniferous limestone
A tale
- Read more about Carboniferous limestone
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 144 reads
The art of keeping going
Thursday 14 June 2018. Could be worse (14 June 1918, Northern France).
- Read more about The art of keeping going
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 115 reads
The minutes and the hours
Slowly, surely
- Read more about The minutes and the hours
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 96 reads
Atrophy in orange and blue
Nocturnal thoughts
- Read more about Atrophy in orange and blue
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 36 reads
Changing history
Proposed rewrite of part 17 and closing scene of "Boatman's Tale"
- Read more about Changing history
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 86 reads
Nicola, I owe you
How I came to be here. Why I remain. People. Gracias Nicola, Tariq, Rafa, Claudia, Sandra and Pietre. And anyone else who might be in the reckoning.
- Read more about Nicola, I owe you
- Log in to post comments
- 33 reads
The meeting - good friends
Opposite sex friendships - are they really free of hormonal interference?
- Read more about The meeting - good friends
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 84 reads
Needling a hay-stack
A darft song
- Read more about Needling a hay-stack
- Log in to post comments
- 32 reads