Wednesday 31 December 2008
Fiona Robyn's "The Letters"
Fiona Robyn is having a free draw for a preview copy of her book "The Letters"
I haven't read it yet, but I hope to. Pop over there and see if you can win one!
Tuesday 30 December 2008
Hair
Long hair
long enough to cover breast
should I find myself
teleported
from the shower
to ancient Rome
(where I would be put to death
for my obvious Celtic ancestry
and my pigeon Latin).
I had a mohawk once, spiked
with shaved sides.
Now the only bit shaved
is an inch square
above the spine
because she likes to feel
her influence, untangled.
Monday 29 December 2008
Yesterday’s Hero
Yesterday’s Hero
No hero this
pavement man
who sat on slashed red vinyl
for thirty years
polishing shoes
outside the station.
No hero this
bewhiskered face
and easy smile
of yellow gravestone teeth
and fresh breath mints.
No hero this
old leather skin
and knobbled hands,
a shoe-shine brush
held tight
by arthritis.
No hero this
but still a whistle
of morning jazz
and newspaper salute
and scent of
cherry blossom.
Cemetery and Dog Field
Sunday 28 December 2008
Poellage for Nadia
Saturday 27 December 2008
And the Demons Cried
Friday 26 December 2008
Deep Fried Lunchtime
Deep Fried Lunchtime
Sunshine in droves --
pinstripes and boaters
ready for a raft race
armed with Styrofoam teas
and lunchtime chippies.
Starved for morning
the race becomes battle
‘twixt rafters and watchers
fought with flourbombs
and water cannons
and the relative spark
of good humour
until the last boat
traverses the weir
with droplets of need.
Sunshine in droves --
pinstripes and boaters
ready for a raft race
armed with Styrofoam teas
and lunchtime chippies.
Starved for morning
the race becomes battle
‘twixt rafters and watchers
fought with flourbombs
and water cannons
and the relative spark
of good humour
until the last boat
traverses the weir
with droplets of need.
Matlock Bath Raft Race
Thursday 25 December 2008
Ovaltine and Coal (acrostic)
Ovaltine and Coal
Children gathered, impatient for
heaven – forgiveness for mother’s
reality-show to finish
in case the presents vanish with
sugared promises of “next-year
there’ll be more than
make a houseful and
anyway, where’s the festive
spirit?”
Decoded cornfields bring
angels and demons,
yelling about letters to a dyslexic Santa.
heaven – forgiveness for mother’s
reality-show to finish
in case the presents vanish with
sugared promises of “next-year
there’ll be more than
make a houseful and
anyway, where’s the festive
spirit?”
Decoded cornfields bring
angels and demons,
yelling about letters to a dyslexic Santa.
Wednesday 24 December 2008
Rememberies
Rememberies
In the cupboard under the stairs
lie eighteen cherished memories
each wrapped in brown paper and string
and saved for the day I need to
release the wonder of summers past.
Except for one, where I peeped
and sunlit meadows on a winter’s day,
aching for the loss of a love
and I wrapped the box
in sixteen layers
of Christmas gaud.
Tuesday 23 December 2008
The Thinness of Ideals
The Thinness of Ideals
Accidental impulses
draw us together
like the glimpse of a smile
in December rain
locks stinging vowels
into rivers of cadence.
I watch your tongue
flick between teeth;
tasting the air,
aching
for pheromones
and I wonder
at the sweetness
of a corrupt helix
threaded with steel
and a heart
blossoming with pain.
Paper Jasfoup
In lieu of a photograph, I bring you Jasfoup the demon, from my novel An Ungodly Child
Adapted from the excellent Paper People by Annabelle Curtis
Click image for full size, save image and print onto A4 card or thick paper
Adapted from the excellent Paper People by Annabelle Curtis
Click image for full size, save image and print onto A4 card or thick paper
Monday 22 December 2008
Virginal Stipulate
Virginal Stipulate
In the halcyon days
of my fragile youth
I came upon an acerbic dreamer
who spoke in nightmares
of knuckle-white restraints.
He was
an open-armed zealot
looking for transcendence
in Jackpot prayers
and double-bonus highways;
an exile from the promised land
and purveyor of damaged souls.
I traded mine for a broken wing
and a parched copy
of Mary’s lost Gospel.
Sunday 21 December 2008
Saturday 20 December 2008
Friday 19 December 2008
Books Giveaway
My Favourite Books - Massive Giveaway!
Mark and Liz over at My Favourite Books have gone competely barmy - for the rest of the year they'll be giving away at least a book a day! They have a fabulous review blog and I for one read it daily. Have a look and spread the word - and while you're there check out their other posts on the blog, they have some great content up there !Marry, Snog or Chuck?
Sarah, over on the Novel Racers wrote the following:
I am sure most of you will have heard of the game "Marry, snog, chuck off a cliff" where you chose a celeb you would marry, one you would snog and one you would cheerfully chuck off a cliff or other high point. As we are all writers I thought I would do a different take on it for today's coffee morning.
I am sure most of you will have heard of the game "Marry, snog, chuck off a cliff" where you chose a celeb you would marry, one you would snog and one you would cheerfully chuck off a cliff or other high point. As we are all writers I thought I would do a different take on it for today's coffee morning.
So my questions for you today are these:
- Which book do you wish you had written?
- Which book do you really regret reading?
- Which author do you admire, either for the wonderful work they have written or the fact they seem to be doing well out of writing total tripe?
- What book would you like to find in your stocking/under the tree this year?
I though my answers would be of interest to several readers as well as the other racers so here are mine:
1.Kate Atkinson's Human Croquet. This was so close to what I wanted to write for 'Halcyon Days' that I ended up changing the whole plot of mine so that it was nothing like hers.
2.Annie Sanders' Busy Woman Seeks Wife I honestly thought this was going to be a lesbian romance. Readable, certainly, but nothing out of the ordinary.
3. Neil Gaiman. My favourite writer, I think, though I haven't read all of his books yet. I hope my books have the otherworldly sparkle that his urban fantasies do.
4. Stephanie Weeks' Triplex Coniunctio. My blog-partner and one of my favourite writers. Getting this is unlikely as it's out of print.
There we go My marry, snog and chuck choices for this year.
1.Kate Atkinson's Human Croquet. This was so close to what I wanted to write for 'Halcyon Days' that I ended up changing the whole plot of mine so that it was nothing like hers.
2.Annie Sanders' Busy Woman Seeks Wife I honestly thought this was going to be a lesbian romance. Readable, certainly, but nothing out of the ordinary.
3. Neil Gaiman. My favourite writer, I think, though I haven't read all of his books yet. I hope my books have the otherworldly sparkle that his urban fantasies do.
4. Stephanie Weeks' Triplex Coniunctio. My blog-partner and one of my favourite writers. Getting this is unlikely as it's out of print.
There we go My marry, snog and chuck choices for this year.
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