Story and Poem of the Month

Our Story and Poem for the month of April have very kindly been chosen by love_writing. Here's what she's written:

What a treat it has been for me to catch up on the amazing work on abctales. It’s been joyful and moving [I’ve had a few watery eye moments!] to not only read your work, but also to see the support and acknowledgement you give to each other in the comments sections. 

As writers we are often plugging away on our own, and it takes courage to put your work out there, but put it out there we must! I know for many it’s been a tough old time, and writing may have been hard at times. I know I had to start over to some extent after life events shook things up for me. Two books which got me back to writing again are Julia Cameron’s ‘Right to Write’ and Anne Lamont’s ‘Bird by Bird.’ You may already be familiar with these but they gently helped loosen things up. 

However, I am not sure too much help is required in this regard, as the work has been outstanding on the site so thank you to all who have posted!

Story of the month 

Sometimes the undercurrent of a whole story can be felt through the most succinct of pieces and that is why Ice cream by https://www.abctales.com/user/onemorething was such a stand-out to me. 

Icecream | ABCtales

So much poignancy in this perfectly pitched short piece. I knew from the opening line, I wanted to grab a cup of tea and saviour every moment of it. From the ‘chalky rows of B&B’s like teeth’ to ‘a kind of lostness set in,’ it sums up the feelings of escapism before reality sets in. It’s truly heartbreaking to look back on moments, stories from childhood [real or imagined] and then realise as an adult how wrong they were. And this does that beautifully. I would love to read more!

Poem of the month

Just Deserts by https://www.abctales.com/user/dihard has not only stayed with me with it’s stunning choice of words and visuals, but it has also really made me want to take action. Could be a great poem for discussion with the younger generations too. 

just deserts | ABCtales

‘But there is colour!’ Wonderful vivid imagery, well-crafted and thoughtful play with words tackling a very urgent matter. After a recent beach walk I noticed with more distress after reading this, the plastic colours, so alien looking in gorgeous natural settings. So distressing, and it can feel quite hopeless for the individual but heartening to hear in the comments of small changes that are being made by communities. A poem that is a rallying call for change!