Category: Creativity

Canvasses and Mattresses (JM’s creative comp)

The top floor studio was ideal. Stacks of old paintings, metal utensils and other assorted clutter were scattered all over the place. This made the property cheap by the city’s standards. Dereliction might be off-putting for some; although I’ve watched TV builder entrepreneurs transform pits into palaces. For me dilapidation was right up my street, I work better in chaos.

At last I had somewhere to forget my kinky muse and I didn’t need to march to a far away desert singing about a black pudding with other outcasts. This spacious, detritus strewn attic made me dismiss thoughts of jumping in quicksand. Yes, it was touch and go for awhile there. I remember the fateful day as if it were yesterday. Continue reading “Canvasses and Mattresses (JM’s creative comp)”

The Political Wife: January Short Story

Two months before their fortieth wedding anniversary he left.  Jill was in shock and found she couldn’t focus on practical details. Her eldest son cancelled all the party arrangements and arranged an appointment with the solicitor.

She refused to attend.  The reality of the situation was something she chose to ignore however much her children urged her to protect her own interests. She ignored phone calls from her husband, and flatly declined to discuss the situation with her friends or family. She snubbed the press, and likewise, increasingly frantic communications from the PM’s Office.

It was a frustrating time for all of them but every time they visited their mother, she was pottering around as usual in the garden or walking the dogs.  She was not in the slightest bit curious to know where he was or what he was doing. After years of ignoring his various infidelities and petty cruelties she simply carried on as normal.  Of course, she was on some level aware that her life would change in the future, but she wanted to face that in her own time, and at her own pace.

Continue reading “The Political Wife: January Short Story”

Four and twenty MPs..

Sing-a-song-a ten quid, a pocket full of change,

Four and twenty MPs decided to be strange,

‘Open and more honest’

Is all they had to say

What a sadly state it is, the rest don’t want to play!

Cameron in his wisdom, wants rid of policies,

Members of the public, worn down to their knees

The power and corruption….

Really can’t get any worse,

Bar four and twenty MPs, they’re all a bloody curse.

(I’ll get me coat)….!!!!

Alternative Nursery Rhymes

A few alternative nursery rhymes for Janus… but written a while back , so probably don’t count for the competition!

Lottery

There was a crooked man,
who walked a crooked mile,
he found a crooked pound coin,
upon a crooked stile,

he bought a crooked lotto ticket,
and won a crooked prize,
and went abroad to sunny Spain,
which was very, very wise. Continue reading “Alternative Nursery Rhymes”

Poetry Competition Winner: The Ballad

Janus: The Ballad of 1871 (Pride)

I was unaware of this interesting theory on the ‘coded’ meaning of Mr Lear’s charming poem “The Owl and the Pussycat”. A clever, surprising ballad, and a pleasant reminder of Mr Lear’s excellent work. I don’t know why this poem wasn’t split into four line stanzas, but no matter. Thank you, Janus, a delightful ballad.

John Mackie: Avarice a Sin? (Greed)

A fine and grand ballad in the Border Tradition, encompassing a broad sweep of history. There is little doubt in my mind, given Mr Mackie’s frank admission in the last stanza regarding the traits of his countrymen, that in said Mason’s view, placement of Avarice as Sin and Charity as Virtue was as wrong as a factory farmed haggis and required correction. Brilliant, Mr Mackie!

JW: The Ballad of reading in Gaol (Gluttony with a touch of Lust)

This outrageous piece explodes across the page in a (prison) riot of decadence and big words. JW has broken all the rules with exuberant abandon and it is certainly not poetry as we know it. JW is, no doubt, ahead of his time. I am left with a burning need to taste the succulent jabuticaba, and a question: Was Oscar Wilde really a Spaniard? I think we should be told. Hilarious poem, JW!

Araminta: The Battle of Thermopylae: A Ballad (Pride)

Battles make great material for ballads; this one fairly romps along and scans beautifully. In the tradition of the early ballad, it could (perhaps) be set to music. By the way, I knew the Spartans were proud and courageous in battle, but I didn’t realise they were seriously into hairdressing. A lovely poem, Ara, and thanks for your heroic efforts in penning a second entry.

Continue reading “Poetry Competition Winner: The Ballad”