Autobiography
The dog next door
That nice looking local we see about the place with the big dog we learned was Angel's brother is standing at their gate, chatting with Kay. "...
- Read more about The dog next door
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 719 reads
Cats and Cuddles
Thirty-something years ago during a weekend of hosting friends I entered the kitchen early on the Sunday morning where a longtime friend of my then...
- Read more about Cats and Cuddles
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5063 reads
Gone to the dogs
Gone to the dogs she must be, hacking her graveyard cough behind the closed front door where her stumbling greyed and matted old dogs whimper and...
- Read more about Gone to the dogs
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 482 reads
BOYHOOD
There goes that Gene Autry song once more – Back in the Saddle Again on a hit parade of memories when boys sought out a hero or two with Roy Rogers...
- Read more about BOYHOOD
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 820 reads
From One's Heart
Come, sit down and listen, mom said. She was bleary eyed, an eyebrow lower than the other. The way she always looked when things began to fall apart...
- Read more about From One's Heart
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1023 reads
Mirror World
Personal...
- Read more about Mirror World
- 20 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 8251 reads
Barbury Castle
Tuesday 12 th June 2018. Silence lasting No schedules, Submissive To wild Gathering Of sheep, Where Mice in Meadows Of green Hideaway From Kestrel...
- Read more about Barbury Castle
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3408 reads
Art Of Music
Dear diary... When asked the question; 'what is your favorite piece of music?' I would always say Carole King's Tapestry. There's an intimacy about...
- Read more about Art Of Music
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2202 reads
I Believe in Rainbows
It was mid-January 2013. I remember it well because like any other January it was miserable; wet and cold with the threat of snow. I was working...
- Read more about I Believe in Rainbows
- Log in to post comments
- 539 reads
A taste of life in a Nissen hut - Tom Browne's Schooldays it ain't!
In 1957/58 I was in the 1st form at boarding school and we lived in a Nissen hut in front of a grand old manor house that contained many of the...
- Read more about A taste of life in a Nissen hut - Tom Browne's Schooldays it ain't!
- Log in to post comments
- 261 reads
Night Dream Believer
At the beginning of the year I wrote a short piece about a vivid dream I had. Whilst sleeping I experienced guilt for not being available to join in...
- Read more about Night Dream Believer
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 724 reads
Close encounter with a paedophile
In 1957 I left my primary school in London and went to a boarding school located in Suffolk run by the London County Council. While I was in the 1st...
- Read more about Close encounter with a paedophile
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 628 reads
Going to the pictures - in the good old days?
In about 1953 or 1954 when I was 8 or 9 years old, I was accosted on 2 occasions by men while at the pictures. The first time was in the Tolmer...
- Read more about Going to the pictures - in the good old days?
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 618 reads
Cork to London - a minor's tale!
When I was about 7 or 8 years old, my mum took me on our annual trip to stay with my Auntie Nellie and her family in Cork. I always loved it there...
- Read more about Cork to London - a minor's tale!
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 586 reads
A four-year old's love for ice cream!
A four-year old’s love for ice cream! When I was a small child, I decided one night that I wanted an ice cream and as we had none at home, I thought...
- Read more about A four-year old's love for ice cream!
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 646 reads
The Boys Who Beat the Slot Machines on Shanklin Pier!
The Boys Who Beat the Slot Machines on Shanklin Pier! When we were about 15 years old, my mate John and myself went camping on the Isle of Wight and...
- Read more about The Boys Who Beat the Slot Machines on Shanklin Pier!
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 574 reads
Echo
Have you forgotten me? What has filled that place in you where I used to be? Mine is empty, words you used to say circle round in it, echoing,...
- Read more about Echo
- Log in to post comments
- 295 reads
Just We Two
Tuesday 15 th May 2018. Walk along the Ridge Way by Fox Hill. Peeping Sun was faint above clouds, as birds chirped on the breeze, hearing them sing,...
- Read more about Just We Two
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1142 reads
In the beginning
I think its been about 7 years since it all started, and about 6 months since it ended. End was never a word that i thought i'd have to associate...
- Read more about In the beginning
- Log in to post comments
- 292 reads
Packed away
I look down at my finger, where his ring used to be. You can still see where the thick band used to sit, the skin is paler and less worn there, once...
- Read more about Packed away
- Log in to post comments
- 334 reads
Do you know who made you?
For sure, I have seen the invitation. It was an old-fashioned one. A nicely designed envelope with a matching letter. Ornate fond, effective images...
- Read more about Do you know who made you?
- Log in to post comments
- 441 reads
Like in my nightmares
I saw them today, like I do in my nightmares. I could feel it was going to happen, I knew, I could have avoided it, but I wasnt strong enough to...
- Read more about Like in my nightmares
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 533 reads
Calloused to Birdsong
Image:
Draw a line. Scrape it through trees. Dissect mountains, valleys, lakes. Forget the sun, gaudy bauble, wasting rays whoring light and fix your border...
- Read more about Calloused to Birdsong
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1990 reads
Memories In The Heart Space
Memories In The Heart Space by Paul McCann Visiting the old house’s where we had grown up and going through some treasures from the past . Unpacking...
- Read more about Memories In The Heart Space
- Log in to post comments
- 292 reads
The Singer
I once lived in a small town. I was shocked to find that, after 16 years, I wasn’t fully accepted. I left and vowed never to return.
- Read more about The Singer
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1960 reads
Effort & View
Black Mountain Ridge sweeps down to quiet Olchon valley – dead end, springing to life! ‘Our path’s up there.’ “Oh! maybe we’ll have lunch half way up...
- Read more about Effort & View
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3505 reads
AS* eye-contact progress
[age about 5 ]: I cannot catch his glance, his eye – I wonder why? … and the day the day-old father met his daughter‘s gaze in a hand-held head.
- Read more about AS* eye-contact progress
- 13 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 4270 reads
Remoteness Day and Night
High above Rhossili beach* – dramatic, wide expanse of sand … far from the nearest city glow … the dazzle of the jewelled night.
- Read more about Remoteness Day and Night
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2594 reads
Chough-chuffed
Eight choughs standing on the fence in a row – red in beak and red in toe, zoom the camera those three to better see – they’ve turned this way – to...
- Read more about Chough-chuffed
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2194 reads
Spring Yellows
Even when the day is dark primroses clump on the bank, softly smile, and deep in the wood by the muddy stream marsh marigolds glow a deep butter...
- Read more about Spring Yellows
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3596 reads
The Old Photo
A blast from the past.
- Read more about The Old Photo
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2446 reads
A Very Risky Venture with a Best Friend
A few years ago my wife bought me a taster course at the British Racing School based at Newmarket. I still believe that this was a highly veiled...
- Read more about A Very Risky Venture with a Best Friend
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2229 reads
The /fɑːl/
I’d heard of a swimmer, from you I think, who’d attempted to cross the Vaal. As a boy it had scared me; the river had a menace no number of...
- Read more about The /fɑːl/
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1420 reads
Bach's Pralidium Number 1 Played by the Jacques Loussier Trio
Since about November 2017 I have been going through varying degrees of stress and anxiety induced by work for the very first time in my life. It is...
- Read more about Bach's Pralidium Number 1 Played by the Jacques Loussier Trio
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1588 reads
International Purple Day - Epilepsy Awareness
Tomorrow is Purple Day! My lovely daughter has learned to live with her epilepsy, but we have also learned that there is a lot to be done in terms of research and awareness. This is written with her permission. Purple Day logo used with permission of Purple Day UK.
- Read more about International Purple Day - Epilepsy Awareness
- 25 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 10838 reads
Visiting the Dingle after early March snow
… we sink to our ankles, splash, wade, frequent suck-glugs as haul-pluck at mud-clasped boot …
- Read more about Visiting the Dingle after early March snow
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2740 reads
Secret Party Crashers
Recollect my friend, meeting up on a Saturday night outside Bristol Hippodrome. It was 1972 I'd just turned eighteen, me in my brown suede, knee high...
- Read more about Secret Party Crashers
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2855 reads
Fix Me
Fix Me (09/03/2018) I have come as a sceptic, A long-term non-believer, I have always dismissed this, An unwilling receiver; I have come under duress...
- Read more about Fix Me
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 1080 reads
Weather For Brass Monkeys
Picture by pixabay free images 1 st March 2018 Temperature fit for snowmen, as bitter rawness envelopes my every muscle clenching tight, anticipating...
- Read more about Weather For Brass Monkeys
- 19 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 6414 reads
Peas and Peanut Butter
I am currently catching up with the latest series of ‘ Back in Time…. ’ One earlier iteration focusing on, clear from the occupation of the father, a...
- Read more about Peas and Peanut Butter
- 15 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5089 reads
A Week in Coverack
I am in the middle of a week spent in Coverack, a small fishing village on the Lizard Peninsula, in Cornwall. Seven nights and days is by far the...
- Read more about A Week in Coverack
- 15 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 4452 reads
A Song for Sam and the Rest of the World - Video
Have reworked one of the verses and did a new video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqPMnulfbUQ&t=25s Wish I could wrap my arms around you once...
- Read more about A Song for Sam and the Rest of the World - Video
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2149 reads
A sweeping saga remembered!
We were living in a tied-cottage (just a house really!) but it came with the job, and come the end of term, my husband brightly suggested he’d … where had the brush stuck?!
- Read more about A sweeping saga remembered!
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1669 reads
Brave Face
Brave Face (19/02/2018) Belt up, enough’s enough, Got some lumps in your throat? That must be tough. Calm down, choke back the tears, Want the...
- Read more about Brave Face
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1678 reads
Les Rowse, Philippe and I , final chapter.
Warning,the incident that makes me leave home is a bit sordid.
- Read more about Les Rowse, Philippe and I , final chapter.
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 4819 reads
Dear Mum
Christmas as the daughter of an Alcoholic
- Read more about Dear Mum
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2564 reads
Strength And Passion Of Women
Dear diary: In The Year Of The Woman, I needed to write this piece. By the beginning of 1988 I'd got to know many fantastic women who made such a big...
- Read more about Strength And Passion Of Women
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 4144 reads
Les Rowse, Philippe and I Part 2
‘We’ve given you all the advantages, all the advantages’ That’s not Les’ old man, it’s mine – his favourite war cry when the old girl cranked up his...
- Read more about Les Rowse, Philippe and I Part 2
- 17 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 6033 reads
The Anniversary(ies)
Six years today. On the one hand, unthinkable to be so long without you. On the other, seems like only yesterday, Yesterday, when a memory made me...
- Read more about The Anniversary(ies)
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1979 reads
Path of Bovine Mud
Lovely wide, quiet, green cultivated valley behind Wenlock Edge: bridle path runs alongside the cowshed – heads out, eating from the trough; soft mud...
- Read more about Path of Bovine Mud
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1370 reads
Undying Beauty
Half light signals first flush of dawn unable to move in hospital ward, perfect sunrise shines as canvas of color brings tears to my eyes, sweeping...
- Read more about Undying Beauty
- 24 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 8565 reads
Sprinkler Rainbows
My father was a qualified petrol mechanic but he didn't own one new car in his life. He was very good and was reliable at his work. He had a problem...
- Read more about Sprinkler Rainbows
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2250 reads
Dream On: of anxieties and aspirations
(With thanks to Jane (airyfairy)) **** Yesterday I attended a meeting in Sheffield which is a seven hour train trip away from my home town. I...
- Read more about Dream On: of anxieties and aspirations
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2450 reads
Thursday's Stroll
Pixabay free image 04/01/2018. Storm Eleanor. While out walking strong winds blowing feeling like October's gales, dead leaves dancing jumping,...
- Read more about Thursday's Stroll
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2287 reads
2017 Poetry Medley
Poetically, 2017 started with a forgotten copse, once walked. My mother in tow of a gaggle of little kids I rose early with mine one Sunday,...
- Read more about 2017 Poetry Medley
- 14 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3497 reads
The Art of Breathing
One second. During that time, his chest rises and then falls. At least I think it’s about a second, but I can’t be certain exactly how much time...
- Read more about The Art of Breathing
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 585 reads
NEXT YEAR
Next Year will be better It cannot be worse! But we said that last Christmas When we hoped to reverse The ills and the sorrow Of an unjust, cruel...
- Read more about NEXT YEAR
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1581 reads