Heart and Inspiration

Heart After Dorianne Laux  Heart rattles rolls into long grass under an apple tree Heart thumps bang bang bang slips slippery as a cucumber Heart is not/cannot/not even when it snows Heart is dark darker bright brighter brightening light Heart switches on switches off...

Legacy

                A Gentle Childhood  My mother stands at the kitchen sink. She smells of bubbles, of rainbows, of hot hot water. I pick up the puppy’s red ball and roll it to the door of the garden. ‘Don’t…’ she begins. In the...

Unexpected

Unexpected  Maud opened the front door. Billy was mowing the lawn.   She carefully lifted her rollaton walker over the step. Behind her   Radio 4. News at One. Headlines over. In her tracksuit pocket:- her purse   credit card, out-of-date driving...

As if by magic

  As if by magic      I’m led blindfold into the Dilworth’s front room My knees tremble, tummy turns. I’m eight years old.   My knees tremble, tummy churns. Other kids giggle. I pick out Andrew’s.   He let me hold a baby chick in my palm Its warm heart...

Woodland solace

COVID infections reach record high. 117,093 new cases in 24 hours. Merseyside cop took selfies at murder scene. PM blamed for test shambles. British socialite found guilty of recruiting and trafficking young girls to be sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein. Gender pay...

Trauma of war

    The final withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, resulted in many Afghans becoming refugees. They were afraid of what the rule of the Taliban might mean for them. Though they loved their country, perhaps because they did, they...