Every Fallen Tree The reeds, still weeks off sprouting their shocks of composers’ cotton, were bent almost horizontal by the whistling wind. Moving in unison, they lulled and crescendoed to nature’s insistent baton, demonstrating the lesson I needed to learn: to cede, not to hold. But I had exchanged one storm for another. The battle brought outside, my brittle form…
“Houses have their own ways of dying, falling as variously as the generations of men, some with a tragic roar, some quietly . . . while from others the spirit slips before the body perishes.” EM Forster, Howard’s End “It was the sort of house that you never seem to come to the end of, and it was full of…
Continuing to explore presenting my material in audio form, here is an adapted audio version of my post from last December, We have contact. Thanks for listening.
My daughter is doing her absolute best to send me to an institution. She revels in breaking my concentration, in pulling my focus, in distracting me in any way she can from whatever task I am feebly trying to complete. Even though she runs the risk of being on the receiving end of an apoplectic outburst on my part, she…
As recently promised, here is my latest Christmas story, in both written and audio form. A simple story of a little boy who weaves his own peculiar magic through this world and beyond. Have a safe and happy Christmas. Everyone Should Have a Fergus ‘Where’s the tree!’ Dad screamed. I was holding my throbbing hand and fighting to get my…
Well, here we are again, leaning hard into a much desired and much deserved festive period. Most Decembers since starting the blog I have tried to write and publish here a Christmas short story. There are five to date, although I am currently working on one that I hope to have up before the 25th rolls round. In the spirit…
Pannonia Girls Eyes pools of wonder, glittering intelligence, sparkling mischief. Bodies shaped by pride, confidence and interest. Dimples and grins of gaiety and penny-dropping knowing. In the wooded space they have been given leave to grow, to be wrong, to be curious. Castles and kingdoms, and queendoms, made in dollhouses. The lash, the whip and the curse have not been…
“Are we living in end times? … Either way, it is hard not to feel that we are being shown a glimpse of a future to which we should expect to become accustomed. And when the world around you is physically changing, it is almost impossible for your perspective not to change with it… It may be tempting to put…
a poem from quite a few years ago, inspired by the sight of an aged driver advancing carefully along a motorway, a long, irate tailback in his wake Witchman Witchman, wrapped around leather, staring through glass, blasted eyes, bloodshot translucent skin. Fingers like knots of gristle and rock, stuck in time, modernity raging at his back, hook nose and jagged…
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul. Pablo Neruda It’s Halloween! Feeling spooky? Feeling scared? Looking over your shoulder? Cowering in the dark? Dressing up or dressing down? We have always celebrated Halloween here in Ireland and I have liked the associated festivities ever since I was a…
