Autobiography
2002-05 My memories of working at a hostel for homeless men
It wasn't my first time working with people who had become homeless. It was 22 years after. I was now 43, working in Exeter not Belfast. The system...
- Read more about 2002-05 My memories of working at a hostel for homeless men
- 22 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 9511 reads
Path blocked
Along the low ridge, blue skies and white clouds – Clee hills to the left, Wenlock Edge to the right; then on to the lane … cows, calves and a bull moved to greet us, squashed up close – inquisitive? should we squeeze through …
- Read more about Path blocked
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2680 reads
Mandolins and the Good Samaritan
- Read more about Mandolins and the Good Samaritan
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1557 reads
An Incredible Journey (IP)
I am about to make an incredible journey, Ladies and Gentlemen. It has occurred to me that if I create a fictionalized version of myself then I exist...
- Read more about An Incredible Journey (IP)
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 642 reads
At This Time
Picture by pixabay free images. Dear Mother Earth, at this time I ask for your support and guidance throughout the next ninety six hours, be with me...
- Read more about At This Time
- 29 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 9389 reads
The sin in cynical
I wonder at what point in my life I became a cynic I still do not possess a definitive answer Regardless how often it is I give this question thought...
- Read more about The sin in cynical
- Log in to post comments
- 473 reads
Camel Rides and Bloody Marys
- Read more about Camel Rides and Bloody Marys
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2204 reads
50 Years Ago Today
July 31, 1967 It' was already hot at 6 a.m. when I woke up. This would be the last time, I thought, that I would be sharing a bed with my sister,...
- Read more about 50 Years Ago Today
- 14 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 4989 reads
Enough
Not so secretly hoping we might make amends, This latest rebuke extinguishes any last vestiges of hope. I am finished if not completely silenced...
- Read more about Enough
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2059 reads
WRITING ON THE MOVE
I recommend the London bus when seeking inspiration; All sorts of human life is there, and folks of every nation. All crammed together, talking,...
- Read more about WRITING ON THE MOVE
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3147 reads
A father's thoughts
It brings me so much joy, when I hear my children laugh It makes the world better And when they find it scary, my arms will always comfort them They...
- Read more about A father's thoughts
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1809 reads
Wonder
Skin, hot, sticks to me. I wonder what you wonder. Light crawling from behind the drawn curtains. Slats on the poorly assembled bed creak beneath the...
- Read more about Wonder
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2788 reads
Letter From Italy
Dear diary... This was a letter I wrote about my trip to Italy when I was twenty one. Luckily mum and dad kept hold of it and placed the letter in an...
- Read more about Letter From Italy
- 14 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5340 reads
Hip Replacement Update
Dear diary...my brain's in a whirl with so much to do and focus on. People tell me not to worry so much, but there's so much to organize in two weeks...
- Read more about Hip Replacement Update
- 19 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 7122 reads
Aligators at Night
I turn my fear into a fearsome axe As I walk through the city streets, Knowing that crude fear can only defeat me. I hold my axe by the handle,...
- Read more about Aligators at Night
- Log in to post comments
- 416 reads
Bastille Day, 1987
This isn't about 'storming the battlements', but the mention of Bastille Day, brought this tale back to mind …
- Read more about Bastille Day, 1987
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1599 reads
RSI
Running through streets With face masks To filter filthy air. Cars speed up For pedestrians to scare them from Screens. Headphones Silence ambulance...
- Read more about RSI
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 867 reads
The Kindness of Kevin
I am currently in the middle of writing a short story based around random acts of kindness so it felt both timely, and heart-warming, when I was the...
- Read more about The Kindness of Kevin
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2467 reads
What happens near Rome
On Sunday I went to a wedding. It was lovely, by a beautiful Italian lake. The food was magnificent, so much of it, and great wine, and then many...
- Read more about What happens near Rome
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 4602 reads
A train window in my mind
Ghosts now
- Read more about A train window in my mind
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2645 reads
I'm Going Through Changes
This is my diary account. For anyone reading this, I realize you might me irritated by this kind of writing, or annoyed at the fact I'm being...
- Read more about I'm Going Through Changes
- 18 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 7209 reads
Joe's Roses
Just one of the many things I miss now that both my mum and dad are dead, especially as an only child, is having no one to check my personal history...
- Read more about Joe's Roses
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2832 reads
Stick to your Mums
You’re all invited to sit down and have a quick lil’ listen, To the troubled young soul, lost the one he was kissin’, May have been suggested that it...
- Read more about Stick to your Mums
- Log in to post comments
- 486 reads
Death and Stuff
One day last week I lifted the garage door, took a look, and quickly retreated. A couple of months ago the last of my furniture and boxed up goods...
- Read more about Death and Stuff
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5239 reads
Meet the Press
Hitting the jackpot.
- Read more about Meet the Press
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2056 reads
The Reproachful Muse
Its been a very patient sheepdog never nipping or barking just walking behind me stopping whenever I did lying down when I stopped gazing with big...
- Read more about The Reproachful Muse
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 4377 reads
Why is everything endless?
Strange worlds of repetition and bullshit. Oil and house paint on canvas and hung over a disused light switch. I live in a half made house. The...
- Read more about Why is everything endless?
- Log in to post comments
- 495 reads
Going Through The Change
While working in Farepak factory hot flushes would come over me, then with no way for me to escape it left me in this embarrassing state, hampers...
- Read more about Going Through The Change
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2069 reads
Spilled Coke
Staring between the small and hidden nape, Stir the cinnamon infused brew, The haunting moment where I probably lost you. The darks spent trying to...
- Read more about Spilled Coke
- Log in to post comments
- 455 reads
.9 diary one
"My favourite is Marlboro, have you tried before?" asked father suddenly, as he took his pouch of tobacco from a jacket pocket. I replied that I had...
- Read more about .9 diary one
- Log in to post comments
- 508 reads
Conned 2 - part 8
The letter of complaint that I sent to the directors of the company brought forth a very cold and formal letter, informing me that they had received...
- Read more about Conned 2 - part 8
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2176 reads
Conned 2 - part 7
My daughter said she thought it was time that I took things to the next level, and wrote an official letter of complaint to the company. So I did,...
- Read more about Conned 2 - part 7
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2059 reads
Fountain Of Dreams
I want to go to those places where old friends flirt with my dreams, their faces emanate from a fountain of past memories, each varying globule...
- Read more about Fountain Of Dreams
- 15 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5581 reads
Conned 2 - part 6
Monday January 10 was a very bad day. I got home from play reading, and had lunch and was about to go out to bridge, when I noticed a very bad smell...
- Read more about Conned 2 - part 6
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2124 reads
.1 sad
I'm sad. My heart feels empty. The stitches holding the rift in my heart have once again opened- opened wide. I want to be adored. I need someone to...
- Read more about .1 sad
- Log in to post comments
- 575 reads
Mary Ann
Ecumenism was not a term we were familiar with back in the mid 50's, and perhaps back then, we weren't ready for the concept. Mary Ann Allmendinger...
- Read more about Mary Ann
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1297 reads
Conned 2 - part 5
My next problem wasn't so much a problem with the machine, as it was with my understanding of what was happening. When Mike sold me on the...
- Read more about Conned 2 - part 5
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1677 reads
The Foreign Language
The Foreign Language Stale furnace. Drizzling close to my skin; a silver sheath. I had no word for drizzling of course Not in English nor in my...
- Read more about The Foreign Language
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 699 reads
Lois and Sharon
From Marlene's house coming up the road, you get next to the Krugers, pretty white boarded house. They were an elderly couple, originally from Russia...
- Read more about Lois and Sharon
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1350 reads
Conned 2 - part 4
I don't intend to bore you with all the little frustrations relating to my purchases, but will just mention the big problems. The first of these was...
- Read more about Conned 2 - part 4
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2178 reads
Family Gathering
Impatient son – he poked the crumbs that topped the pudding’s plums. He licked his finger, quickly went, disaster to prevent – ‘There’s something...
- Read more about Family Gathering
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2663 reads
Marlene
Our house was 221 11 th Street – a yellow stucco finished house, two bedrooms, a tiny kitchen, a combined living room dining area and a bathroom. But...
- Read more about Marlene
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3224 reads
Conned 2 - part 3
The men who were going to install my thermodynamic machine had to come from Essex, which is the headquarters of the company, and the home of most of...
- Read more about Conned 2 - part 3
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2356 reads
UM
What brought you here? To this place What strange series of events An incalculable amount of decisions Not just yours We sit across from one another...
- Read more about UM
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 748 reads
a grandiose title for a short poem about starting a fresh
A new start A new beginning A new A new A new
- Read more about a grandiose title for a short poem about starting a fresh
- Log in to post comments
- 371 reads
Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining
Dear Diary...clock ticks as I type wondering where all the time has gone contemplating my options to have a hip replacement, but I don't know why It'...
- Read more about Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining
- 13 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 4581 reads
Conned 2 - part 2
About a week after my heating management system was installed, I was phoned by the man who had actually got me to sign on the dotted line, Mike. He...
- Read more about Conned 2 - part 2
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2117 reads
Conned 2 - part 1
Conned! 2 - part 1 I do have something to write about – and I have already provided you with the first part of it . I posted it in late September and...
- Read more about Conned 2 - part 1
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2139 reads
Good Luck John
I haven't used this site for a long time. But I haven't forgotten about you. I regularly think about Rhiannon and wonder how she is getting on with...
- Read more about Good Luck John
- 14 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5193 reads
Leggings – Bikerrs Galore!
a helicopter buzzed the building.
- Read more about Leggings – Bikerrs Galore!
- Log in to post comments
- 578 reads
A Beautiful Day In Sanremo
Nel blu dipinto di blu. (Criticism welcome).
- Read more about A Beautiful Day In Sanremo
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3276 reads
Photos
You show me photos on your phone as we stand on the tube. Scrolling through years of captured memories and pointing out the fondest. We don't speak,...
- Read more about Photos
- Log in to post comments
- 386 reads
‘Dear Darling Daughter’: letters, sore knees, chicken legs
Amongst some of my most treasured possessions are the small number of letters that my dad wrote me the summer before his death in January 1979. I was...
- Read more about ‘Dear Darling Daughter’: letters, sore knees, chicken legs
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2253 reads
Love Longsuffering
And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her. ~ Genesis 29: 20 As a hart roams in the...
- Read more about Love Longsuffering
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 753 reads
The List
My mother died as she lived. In Marks and Spencer's Food Hall.
- Read more about The List
- 27 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 15079 reads
Distraction
Distraction She traces her fingertips Across the bronzed, accentuated curves Of her neighbour’s face. As the minutes click, time slips, She loses...
- Read more about Distraction
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 765 reads
The scent of them
I miss the smell of families – Funky, loud, unabashedly visceral. Granddad’s chest hair was wiry; sourly Vinegary, reeked like baked conkers. Nana’s...
- Read more about The scent of them
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1280 reads
Reflections of Mother’s Day as a Motherless, Childless Woman
A couple of Sunday's ago my evening viewing was upset a little by the chosen format for that night’s edition of The Big Painting Challenge (BBC One,...
- Read more about Reflections of Mother’s Day as a Motherless, Childless Woman
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5512 reads
With thanks to the Morphine
With thanks to the Morphine Writing poetry is not an easy thing Reading it can be even more challenging I sit down with pen in hand Trying to think...
- Read more about With thanks to the Morphine
- Log in to post comments
- 490 reads