Wait
What can I do with all this pain?It seeps from beneath a jovial personaand drips on the soul like rain.I fear the parasite will overcome the hostand their life will be but a ghostof what it could have been.‘But it’s…
Katya Marsh
Vietnam – First Impressions
Poor old Ho Chi Min. He wanted to be cremated with his ashes scattered throughout Vietnam, but here we are in front of an architecturally brutalist mausoleum in Hanoi, reputed to contain his embalmed body. Thankfully, the mausoleum is closed…
Benefit of Doubt
Has this glamorous heiress really decided to create a haven for asylum seekers? It seems a stretch, to be honest. She could be bored, her usual jet set lifestyle curbed by ‘covid’, or perhaps for once the news coverage has…
Avoid the Saintly
– Beware the friend who’s holier than thou The one who thinks you’re a miserable cow – Forever cheerful, bright and breezy She can’t take grief it makes her queasy – Given news of the old and infirm She’s there…
Turning Point
As she heard the door slam and the key turn in the lock, Gemma began to shake. She’d managed to hold herself together until now; answered all their questions and even phoned Roger, leaving a message on his voice mail.…
It Sucks
I wannabe a writer, earning megabucks But when I look at what I wrote I think ‘Oh Christ it sucks.’ I could do with a new angle, a large vocabulary Some cool subject matter that’s not about me. — An…
Catch a falling star
Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket Never Let it fade away You remember that old 50s hit by Perry Como? It came to be, for me, the signature tune for our island. For the first few…
Security
Phil looked at his watch for the tenth time in so many minutes, then stared at the mains switch which would cut the power to the whole building should he decide to turn it. At 1.30am., the plan was to…
Stephanie
Stephanie studied her face in the mirror. ‘Not bad,’ she thought, ‘not bad considering.’ Even at forty she wasn’t just pretty or attractive but incredibly beautiful. Her childhood was happy, everybody loved her and school had been a breeze. She…
The Old Mill
Michael was later than usual taking the dog out. They’d had friends round for a meal, drunk a lot of wine and the conversation and laughter had kept everybody together well past midnight. It would be good to have some…