MATRIMONY

ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
Try my Paranormal Flash now!

BLOGGER BARD

What does marriage mean? Well, to many it means living together until
irreconcilable differences decree otherwise. Indeed, many don’t bother
getting married at all, happy in serial monogamy with commitment only
to a partner until decided otherwise.

Now, far be it from me to
condemn any lifestyle.

To me, people are free to live how they want. But this always needs
to be done in full knowledge. And commitment to another person is
only part of what being married means. Marriage was also intended as
a commitment by a couple to their society in order to receive
privileged status. The modern idea of marriage is another example of
the throwing away of the social forces that used to keep us all
together.

Eye On the World
Essays on everything from science to
religion, politics to crime

BRIT NEWS: Ex-Army Chief Gen
Dannatt joins the Tories. Good. You
need senior military in govt to know how to
do best for forces.

BRIT NEWS: Royal Mail loses Amazon contract as strike
threat looms. If this trend continues, will strikes guarantee loss
of jobs?

BRIT NEWS: Cameron vows to pull down Labour’s big govt. Deserves
to be next Prime Minister for this alone. But then he
must deliver.

WORLD NEWS: Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize.
Why? What has he done? A great
symbol, yes, but is this all
you need to be to
win it?

THE CRIME POST

It would be criminal not to read it

Carry On Tuesday – Poetry Train
Heads or Tails – ReadWritePoem
Three Word Wednesday

THE CAUSE

It’s not my fault, there is a cause,
I may have robbed but take a pause,
Society hasn’t been good to me,
Things always go wrong, don’t you see?

No I don’t, you miserable cad,
When I think of the troubles I’ve had,
But they didn’t turn me towards crime,
There’s no cause for crossing the line

I KILLED IT

Fiction: It was Victor Hugo who wrote: ‘Life is a flower of which love is
the honey.’ Ha! Not in my world. It was so obviously fictitious. At first
I liked her – gave her so much happiness. But it was not long before I
used her, tormented her, became contemptuous of her – her ways,
her ideosyncracies, her very existence. And that’s why I did what I
did. That’s why I killed her. Yet it was soon so obvious I had been
wrong. The last four chapters without her were terrible. And they
didn’t even buy the film rights.

THE SPAMINATOR

Vowelised chelations, capricious progeny,
Vehement reprobates, irresistible infamy,
Cosmoramic investment, insolent language,
Exploded on my blog, exulting their baggage …
A literary thrasher I’ll use ’til they croak,
Freedom from spam I will invoke,
No more, then, will they steal my blog,
Eradicated, expunged, no more comments they’ll hog

IT’S INDECENT

It’s indecent, it is! They told me so,
Got to look, but they’re moving so slow,
Why do they frustrate people like this?
They don’t understand – we simply can’t miss …
At last I’m here, do you want to see?
Ohhh my! It was worth the fee,
In decent shape, I’m telling you,
Frustrated yet? Well join the queue

© Anthony North, October 2009

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel

COMPROMISE

Friday Flash 55 & more prompts below
Try my Paranormal Flash now!

GURU TONY

People always want to stop you from doing what you want.
And then there are those incidents that hold you up. Life can
sometimes be a drag. But I guess this is because we’re
forgetting an important element of society. Wants must always
be balanced with duties to others, or society would descend
into chaos. We must remember the importance of such
compromise or our dreams will forever be shattered.

Eye On the World
Essays on everything from science to
religion, politics to crime

BRIT NEWS: Soldier who lost
3 limbs in Afghanistan is taunted
in wheelchair by teenagers. Is this what
we sacrifice them for?

BRIT NEWS: London Mayor Boris Johnson had small
acting role in Soap Eastenders. Boris, very nice, but don’t
give up the day job.

HEALTH NEWS: The Lancet reports half of babies born in UK will live
to 100. No, long lived people today lived different lifestyle in youth.

BRIT NEWS: Airline union warns pilots are too tired to fly. Well, when
you use aircraft like buses, the standards inevitably decline.

CRIME NEWS: Brit police report burglaries up. This is inevitable.
We are not more moral. Crime increases as economic
wealth declines.

BRIT NEWS: Tories prepare for govt at their
conference. An honest message of
cutbacks & pain. Their gamble
may well work.

RATTLER’S TALE

A Voyage of the Imagination

One Single Impression
Sunday Scribblings – 3 Word Thursday

FLASH 55 – BLOB WORLD

Fiction: The pain hit him as he opened his eyes. What he had done
last night he could not remember. But soon he was to worry about
the world itself. Focusing, he finally stared out the window, only to
see macabre blobs where once the world had been. He froze.
Rubbed his eyes … Opened the curtains.

TALISMAN

Tali held the amulet close,
It protected her the most,
As she traversed this terrible place,
Frightened and with haste;
But as long as it was there,
She knew another would beware,
Arm around her, HE never ran
He was Tali’s man

SWEETIE
(Quilly’s word meanings below)

Fiction: The tragematopolist did not want to misqueme him. He’d
noticed the vacivity in the boy’s eyes when he had first entered the
sweet shop, as if there was something wrong with him. And when he’d
asked for a sweet, the confectioner could only say no. After all, he
must not give sweets to strange children.

misqueme – offend
tragematopolist – confectioner
vacivity – containing nothing

BUMP IN THE NIGHT

It’s coming close – I cannot see,
All is dark, eerily,
Hazards forming before my eyes,
Using night to disguise,
Shock! It comes – hints of Poe,
Ouch!
I’ve stubbed my toe

© Anthony North, October 2009

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel

LIFESTYLE

ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
Try my Paranormal Flash now!

POLLY TICKS

What can we say about modern lifestyle? Well, we always have plenty
to worry about – but there’s plenty of therapies, especially shopping.
And then there’s an infatuation with diet – or lack of it – oh, those
lovely, expensive diet plans and fast food. Everything is so fast, with
lots to do – after all, we can’t have you doing nothing when you can
earn and spend and earn and spend and … And don’t forget the
continual fads and fashions that come along – we can’t hold on to
‘last year’s’ can we? It seems to me the lifestyle we’re sold is a
marketing ploy. We are receptors of capitalism and miss out living.

Eye On the World
Essays on everything from science to
religion, politics to crime

GREEN NEWS: Personal Carbon
Allowance proposed. Don’t reach your
quota, sell credits; exceed, you have to buy.
Won’t this just raise anger?

BRIT NEWS: The Sun moves to the Tories. Labour came
in when they supported them – and go? Why do we allow people
like Murdoch to rule us?

SCI NEWS: Was T-Rex wiped out by a sore throat? A parasite that still
attacks birds has been blamed. Not all that roaring, then.

CELEB NEWS: Stephen Fry’s 6 stone weight loss thru diet. Why is it
that when they do this they always look ill? Doesn’t seem
right to me.

TECH NEWS: Internet has now become UK’s biggest
advertising medium. This means net will become
all, with all our eggs in one basket. Madness.

EURO NEWS: Ireland says yes to Lisbon
Treaty. Clear case of a previous no
meaning yes. A Euro-President
is coming terrifyingly close.

READ WITH MUMMY

The Magazine Post with a gentle hint of horror

Carry On Tuesday – Heads or Tails
Poetry Train – ReadWritePoem
Three Word Wednesday

BUILD A FEAR

Build a fear, make them scream,
Imagination can form any dream,
Tickle their nerves, wide eyed stare,
You’ve got yourself into their worst nightmare,
Now YOU produce all they see,
They’ve ceded, forever, their destiny

WHERE? WHO? WHEN?

Fiction: Where now? Is it in my nightmares or reality? Is there a
difference any more? I’m not so sure. They say like can oppose like,
but was it meant to be as terrifying as this? Is it so difficult for me to
be as one, rather than a fragmented mind of contradictory thought?
Who now?
The stalker does what he does – horrendously, omnipotently. He wraps
his hands round my throat; his urges round my mind. Can I stop him
with a thought, or do they not have effect upon this reality?
When now?
When will I breath my last? Will I welcome it? Will I yearn to be
free, finally released from this opposed likeness, my twin?

CONFUSION TIMES

I love the day, so full of light,
Often in contrary thoughts I wallow,
Doing things for my delight,
Under Moon, chilling, hollow,
Basking in Sun, enriching, pure,
Thoughts abound, often stark,
Of everything I am so sure
I fear the night, so empty, dark

THEY DID IT HERE
(Updated 7 Oct 09)

Fallow land, left unused,
No one ventures, no limit to abuse,
Such an atrocity was committed here,
If you visit you’ll sense the fear,
Hear the voices of those who’ve gone,
Vocal chills, ghostly song

© Anthony North, October 2009

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel

INSPIRATION

ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
Have you had a go?

GURU TONY

Inspiration creates change, but how does it work? There’s an amazing
psychology at work in those who create something inspired. Often,
through adversity, illness or alienation, they feel frustrated. This
causes them to descend into their inner mind. And it is here that
inspiration births.

But what process is at work
in the inner mind?

We observe the world – often without realizing it – and our view of
it can form unconsciously. When we consciously seek this inner
knowledge to create something new, we actually connect with the
observed frustrations of our wider society. Hence, inspiration is a
two-way affair, our society being fundamental to the personal
process of creativity. However, from this point onwards, inspiration
becomes personal, with the inspired person’s frustrations the primary
factor. This creates novelty, and his success in inspiring others
thrusts society onwards. But coloured by his own feelings, the way
it is expressed is usually extreme. This guarantees frustration will
continue to rise in society, guaranteeing that other inspired people
will go through the process. Inspiration through frustration seems to
be the engine of social change. But not all inspired people gain
acceptance from their society. I guess the difference between a
genius or a crank is the degree of social acceptance they gain. At
least, that’s how I see it.

Eye On the World
The ‘Y’ Files

GREEN NEWS: UK may have to
cut emissions by 90% by 2050 to make
way for aviation growth. Bio-fuels for cars and
planes seem top of the agenda. Excuse me, if that is
successful, where are we going to grow our food? We should
be investing massively in a new generation of greener aircraft, not
messing around with their fuel supply.

BRIT NEWS: Last week Gordon Brown apologised to Alan Turing, the
brilliant codebreaker and AI whizz who killed himself in the early
50s having been ordered to be chemically castrated after
convinction for a homosexual act. It is right that we
speak about this deplorable wrong, but it was
not Brown’s govt who did it, so why is HE
apologising? Does such sentiment
belittle the tragedy?

GREEN SCENE

Save the Planet – or you’ll be sorry!!

Carry On Tuesday
Heads or Tails – ReadWritePoem

THE WAY

We’re told be green, this is the way,
Save the planet without delay;
Yes, this must be done – no doubt!
But we’re not the only sinners about;
Something else is going on,
Which seems to me a bit of a con,
Surely Big Biz should be doing the most,
But they’re very quiet, while we all roast

THE HOT WAR

Fiction: The letter sat before him. He wished he’d left it unopened –
guessed what it would contain. And next to it, the executive order
he’d so recently signed. He was a captain of industry – a CEO who
had risen high, and that flair for getting things done had been
inherited by his daughter. There’d been opposition to the plant in the
jungle – it would damage the local environment; add to climate
change; it was carcinogenic. He sneered at the latest report, propped
against a coffee mug on his desk. Why couldn’t people understand
that advancement has collateral damage?!! His daughter had been
there, gotten involved – in the protests (damn her!) – she got things
done, see. Became a … He read the letter again, written quickly –
painfully – from her death bed. Then he filed it away – with the order
to send the unit in.

MODERN LIVING

Sleep all day, conform to none,
Extend scofflaw, remedy gone,
She’s too hip, the multitude shout,
Life’s not worth pittance if limelight’s out,
Just a husk lost in clover,
A sugar plum fairy, confection all over

© Anthony North, September 2009

THE BIBLE

Booking Through Thursday
More prompts below

PROF ISAAC GALISTEIN

In deciding the biggest book I’ve read recently, I’d have to say The
Bible – both in size and popularity. Of course, I’ve been reading the
Bible for decades, and still often pick it up. Now, I’m not a practicing
Christian and I don’t have ‘faith’.

So why would I want to
read the Bible?

One reason is it seems to offer a system contrary to modern living.
This alone is enough to argue it SHOULD be read, ‘cos modern living
clearly holds problems that could be answered by contrary systems.
But in addition to this, I’m amazed by the ‘truth’ of the Bible. Now,
I’m not using truth in a literal sense, but the more I read, the more it
relates to human actions and ideosyncracies. And one final reason
concerns the mysteries of the Bible. Without faith I cannot accept
miracles, etc, as literal. But as a theorist of the unexplained, I’m well
aware that ideas can be put forward to validate what is there
written. Infact, I’ve never known a more complete book for
stimulating thought.

Eye On the World
The ‘Y’ Files

BRIT NEWS: Police are spending
thousands on consultants to teach
policemen how to Tweet. But why? So
they can keep an eye on demonstrators. This
is a disgrace on two counts – it isn’t rocket science
to learn; and when did ‘demonstrator’ automatically equate
with ‘criminal’?

HEALTH NEWS: Scientists claim genetic links to manic depression.
I’ve never been convinced that such illnesses are ‘nature’ as
opposed to ‘nurture’. I’m convinced there’s a third factor
– ‘culture’. Could a growing illness in a species be
‘copied’ in the genes as it is replicated among
a population? If so, behaviour eventually
becomes illness.

READ WITH MUMMY

The Magazine Post with a gentle hint of horror

One Single Impression
Sunday Scribblings – 3 Word Thursday

MIDNIGHT ROMANCE

Midnight tryst, secret bliss,
Lips meet, longed for kiss,
Taking us to another world,
Passions raised, in love with my girl;
So short these snatched delights,
In the shadows, dead of night;
To love …
Oh, if only I could have saved …
Her spirit dissolves – returns to grave

THE LOOP
(Quilly’s words meanings below)

Sci Fi: If we remember the pain can we avoid it? I ask because I’m
stuck in a time loop. I never realized at first – well, I say ‘first’, but
for all I know I could have been here for eternity. I passed the
oporopolist and old soldier with phalerae and thought nothing of it,
but when a glimpse of recognition came I wondered just what was
going on. Had I seen them before? And from the sadness on their
faces I thought I must have. Looking down and seeing my stibogram
only added to my feeling. After all, how could I leave footprints before
I’d walked there? The familiarity with the old soldier and fruit seller
increased the more I passed; and that’s when I began to notice my
future footprints were becoming more laboured, as if there was
something to dread ahead of me. And soon, of course, I began to
remember the pain I was about to suffer. But can I break a time loop?
I think I can. I don’t think I’ll be passing by here many more times
before I shoot myself dead.

Oporopolist – fruit seller
Stibogram – record of footprint
Phalerae – medallions

PSYKEY

Desolation!!! Just can’t see;
Problem – what IS the key?
Got to search, have to find,
Open the latch to inner mind,
Living nightmare, horrfic bane,
Weighed down by Marley’s chains;
Got to exorcise the fey,
Let the ghosties float away

© Anthony North, September 2009

THE FUTURE

ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
Have you had a go?

GURU TONY

The future hasn’t happened yet. We know that. We know it because
we live in the present. But of course, in reading it, this sentence has
now become the past. As for the next sentence, it’s in your future,
but I already know what it says, so has a little of the future entered
your present? I raise this point for an important reason. We think of
the future as divorced from the present, but the reality is, its seed is
sown now. If we realized this, the future could well be a better place.

Eye On the World
The ‘Y’ Files

BRIT NEWS: It seems
prisoners in police cells will
soon be given a questionnaire to
rate the ’services’ provided. They’ll be calling
them guests next. Sometimes I just wonder about my
country’s sanity.

UFO NEWS: The Ministry of Defence’s latest batch of released
UFO cases show how obsessed many are with UFOs. Yet,
if this is true, why are the media and science so
quiet on the issue? Surely, if there is a
mystery (no, I don’t think it’s ET)
they should be studying it.

FUTURE ZONE

What’s ahead … and Beyond!!!

Carry On Tuesday
Heads or Tails – ReadWritePoem

STEAM POWER

We went back to steam power when it was all done,
Lighting our habitat as bright as the sun,
Plenty of fuel, we sucked it right in,
Some said it’s costly – wages of sin,
But here in our space station, we just carry on,
Catching Earth’s air before it’s burnt up and gone

ANN LEE – AN ADAPTATION

Sci Fi: She lies in the road, injured, pained. Beautiful. I’m an EAP 700
series complete with advanced learning program. Sitting, I realize I
must learn from this girl – how she approaches death; how I perceive
she feels – how I feel. I study literature so this experience is new to
me … Her death takes many units, and as she dies I realize she is
more than words. Am I more than circuits? A line from Poe comes to
consciousness: ‘we loved with a love that was more than love.’ This
makes me feel … unusual. Can I? Can I … love? … More data required.
Search. Find. Inflict wound. Fatal. Slow. Sit. Watch … Death … … …
Insufficient data … … …

TOMORROW NEWS

Editor sits astride the world,
Watching over news unfurl,
War is wanted, he sends the troops,
He’s created celebrities wanting snoops;
He’s honed the media to what we are,
For news today we don’t go far,
We live within his media clutch,
Where troops and snoops don’t cost much

© Anthony North, August 2009

EMPATHY

ABC Wednesday, with Thursday 13 lines of poetry
More prompts below

PAPPA RAZZI

Empathy is the ability to identify with others. However, we also have
to place it in terms of who we empathise with. Historically, we have
empathy with family and friends. Occasionally we could hear of
someone facing something similar to us, and we certainly empathise
with them. But I’ve noticed a change in empathy over recent years.
As individuality rises, the idea of family is in decline, and we’ve
grasped a new, wider, media based empathy. We see this in
communal grieving on a mass scale. Yet I cannot help feeling this
is a diluted empathy, leaving us more unfeeling than ever before.

Eye On the World
The ‘Y’ Files

BRIT NEWS: The 201st Brit soldier
has died in Afghanistan, reaching a solemn
milestone. More than anything else, many are
aware of the sacrifice due to the small town of Wootton
Bassett, close to where the bodies are repatriated. Whenever
a soldier returns the town comes to a standstill in silent contemplation
as the hearses pass through. This has now become a media event,
capturing the best of British resolve and dignity. We should all
thank them.

FILM WATCH: I’ve watched the 2005 remake of King Kong for
the first time. It’s rare for a remake to better the
original classic, but Peter Jackson came close
with this. Kong is exceptional and Naomi
Watts is magnificent as the ‘beauty’.
The action scenes were great,
the humour funny and it is
always good to see a
writer playing
the hero.

READ WITH MUMMY

The Magazine Post with a gentle hint of horror

Totally Optional Prompts
Take This Tune – Heads or Tails
ReadWritePoem – Poetry Train
Carry On Tuesday

DO IT LIKE VERNE

When a journey begins badly it rarely ends well,
Jules Verne knew that, stories to tell,
Monsters on islands and trips round the world,
Eighty days to do it, adventures unfurl,
Down in the depths with Nemo in tow,
Action and horror, with literature we go

MIND THING

Sweat on brow, heartbeat races,
Must shake off the monster traces,
In my mind, a fearful place,
Chaotic thoughts interlace;
It’s growing! A whole existence to fill,
Consumed. Can you feel the chill?

LOST LOVES

Fiction: To dance, to sing, to dream of loves gone, loves yet to come,
freedom’s song. They exist here – many, so many – a marriage of
sorts, for life, and sometimes not. They exist here, they fantasise
here, they hope for hoped for experience – here; in their body and in
their mind, they waltz, they interweave, they think always of love – a
comedic love; a surreal love that no one can touch, no one can fulfill,
but only to crave … They sing their operatic song, dance their day
away, remember, regret, a dance, at times, macabre, remembered
horrors of what once they did. But now, under the warden’s eye, their
marriage is to redemption.

THURSDAY 13 LINES OF POETRY

CLEAR THINKING

Salacious froth within the mind,
Rancid, coarse, look out behind,
Search out the track, homeward bound,
Fling it out, make ranting sound,
Coagulating mind, spoon fed bustle,
Elocution comes, diode tussle

PALE VISITOR

You look pale – are you dead?
Are you here or in my head?
You look thirsty – don’t come closer!
Lovely eye teeth – prefer your molars …
You know …
I’ve got a feeling you are real,
See this stake? Let’s impale

© Anthony North, August 2009

TIME TO THINK

Including One Single Impression, Take This Tune and Sunday Scribblings.
Have you had a go yet?

PAPPA RAZZI

We’re not supposed to think nowadays. Media is always putting it
down, and academe doesn’t seem to do much either. The reason is
fear. You see, people think philosophy ended up creating communism
and fascism, and the conflicts and atrocities that followed. But I don’t
think philosophy caused the trouble, but the lack of a sense of
moderation following on from the philosophy. Similarly, it went bad
when holism was placed upon society – a tricky thing without
moderation. We should remember this, and think!

Eye On the World
Writers’ Tips
The ‘Y’ Files

NOTE: My Tweet length current
affairs are becoming restricting so I’ve
decided to resurrect my Mini Blog, which will
continue my reports. All it takes is one quick click
and back.

BRIT NEWS: The Home Secretary has been asked whether Al
Qaeda sympathizers could have infiltrated MI5. Such a possibility …
… read more …

BRIT NEWS: Sir Bobby Robson has died. I never agreed
with all he did for football. One of the first to
buy foreign players for his team …
… read more …

RATTLER’S TALE

A Voyage of the Imagination

Twist In the Tale Archive

ANTICIPATE

I look ahead, anticipate,
Longing never dissipates,
Soon it comes, it always will,
Lots to do, must fulfill …
What is it? I hear you ask,
What could be this glorious task?
That which gives us joy and strife;
Just life

BIG CHANCE

Fiction: It’s a grand night for singing. The words of the old song
filtered into her mind as she stood there, the activity of the fair all
around her. And it was certainly her big chance. She looked up to the
stars before the action and they seemed so wonderful, as if they held
her destiny. Then the time came. He was there in front of her. She
pouted, knowing no one could resist her. He moved closer, his arms
encompassing her, his mouth beckoning hers, about to take her to –
to what? To the most important moment of her life, where her dreams
would come true, where nothing mattered but this moment; this
wonderful, fulfilling, magnificent moment. Then … ‘Cut!’ said the
Director. ‘We’ll let you know.’

WINDOWS

Look through the window, an amazing view,
Life in its majesty, events anew,
Reactions, assignations, trysts galore,
Fate notches up an inevitable score

Previously you were out, reacting with them,
They’re touched by your love, or maybe your phlegm,
A little piece of you is in their minds,
They dance to your tune, your thoughts of all kinds

See how your intention directs their ways,
Your sainthood, your devils into them strays,
And see how they hate you, or love you so much,
By their glance in your window; emotional as such

For we are all gods, having sway over life,
Our social mores creating happiness or strife,
Your face, as you look, above them flies,
And reflects your mischief back into your eyes

© Anthony North, August 2009

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HARRY PATCH

Including Friday Flash 55, Three Word Wednesday, Three Word Thursday and
Totally Optional Prompts. Have you had a go yet?

POLLY TICKS

Harry Patch died at the weekend. Many outside the UK will not know
him, and in many ways he had an unremarkable life as a plumber. But
he died at the weekend at the age of 111, just days after the death
of the world’s oldest man, Henry Allingham who died at 113. But their
deaths are a turning point in history, for these two heroes were the
last living Brits who fought in World War One. From last weekend
onwards, the experience has gone from living memory in the UK. So it
is now up to us to remember, and never go there again.

Eye On the World
Writers’ Tips
The ‘Y’ Files

WORLD NEWS: Should we
talk to Taliban for political solution
to Afghanistan? There is no solution. We’re
just keeping those camps shut. Admit it.

HEALTH NEWS: Health service being swamped by fear of swine
flu as worried well worry. There’s a fine line between information
& sensationalism.

BRIT NEWS: Hike in Council Tax expected to pay for local services.
No need. Just sack all the pointless extra management &
PC posts.

BRIT NEWS: Esther Rantzen to run as Independent
MP but one doesn’t make a revolution. Let’s
have some real MPs leave their parties
and be honest.

FLASH 55 – HE BITES

With Quilly’s Words

Fiction: He knew what to do. Some thought
his performance was sevidical, giving morsicant,
whilst the reality was more veteratorian. True,
those bites hit home in ways they could not
imagine. Chomp, chomp, chomp they went,
feeding on our psyche. And with each bite a
chunk of freedom went. Beware the allure of
the political soundbite.

Without

Fiction: He knew what to do. Some thought his
performance was cruel, giving the sensation of
repeated biting, whilst the reality was more subtle.
True, those bites hit home in ways they could not
imagine. Chomp, chomp, chomp they went, feeding
on our psyche. And with each bite a chunk of
freedom went. Beware the allure of the political
soundbite.

DON’T YOU REALISE?

Fiction: Thornhill didn’t mean to patronize him but he had little choice.
He was here in the darkness and the intruder had intruded once too
often. But now he had his attention. He’d said it over and over again:
‘You shouldn’t be here.’ But the intruder wouldn’t have it. He’d been
coming here for so long that it certainly felt right to him. But Thornhill
persevered and eventually he could sense the intruder weakening.
And when he finally got him to look down at the gaping hole in his
chest the realization was palpable. So that was it then. He WAS
dead. And Thornhill had carried out another successful exorcism.

MIDNIGHT

The hour strikes, the hands are both raised,
The clock is still, all else is crazed,
For this is midnight, of time and soul,
Goosebumps raised, the air is cold

Witches chant and bats fly above,
No time now for peace or a dove,
For spirits are out, walking the Earth,
A supernatural veil of sorrow and dearth

Into this brew your thoughts do stray,
Mixed in a cauldron for ghosties to waylay,
And haunt you with memories of what you’ve done,
Hope you did good, or now you’re so glum

As minutes tick by, light follows dark,
Goodness returning, angels hark,
As long as you’re not lost in those thoughts unpure
Carried away on death’s eternal tour

© Anthony North, July 2009

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B IS FOR BULLYING

Including ABC Wednesday, Carry On Tuesday and Heads or Tails.
Have you had a go yet?

PAPPA RAZZI

I hate bullying of any kind. Yes, I know the bully usually has ‘issues’ –
he has to express his self-esteem ‘cos he’s a wreck inside. But I just
wish he’d go and cause other wrecks elsewhere, where no one else
gets hurt. Yet, in a perverse way, the bully often fulfils a function.
Time after time I hear of people making it in the world ‘cos they had
to rise above the fears caused by being bullied. Adversity, it seems,
can bring out the best in the human. What a crazy, cruel world
we live in.

Eye On the World
Writers’ Tips
The ‘Y’ Files

BRIT NEWS: Surveillance watchdog
attacks ministers for wanting more powers
to spy on us. Paranoid govt is dangerous, don’t
you know.

BRIT NEWS: Get married Church of England style, now, and get kids
baptised at same time. So the idea of no kids before marriage dumped.

BRIT NEWS: Thinktank predicts deep cuts in public
services. Isn’t this stating the obvious? We
could never afford such services
for long.

LOVE ROSE

Fiction: ‘Love is the flower you’ve got to let grow.’ The John Lennon
quote had been apt to the life before us, good reader; even though
it can leave a bitter taste as our subject knelt here before the rose.
It had seemed a match made in heaven. Oh, the clichés! But it
turned out to be one long series of clichés – the whirlwind romance,
the marriage – but beneath it all, the knowing that he loved someone
else, allowing his love to spread like a virulent weed. She suspected
this early in their short time together. And the suspicion grew,
paranoia blossoming into a bouquet of deceit and lies. And then the
fear. Was she SAFE!? Well, it turned out she wasn’t. There were
too many flowers in his garden and weeding had become a necessity
… So our subject knelt here before the rose, the grave immaculate,
the memory of the bitter taste of poison she had delivered before
his weeding commenced. And as she pruned away with gusto, she
remembered his Rose.

IN FIVE YEARS TIME

Where will I be in five years time?
Writing poetry, feeling the rhyme;
No doubt still suffering from cfs,
Can’t seem to be rid of this little pest;
Building the years of my marriage long,
Happy to sing the same loving song;
But hopefully a publisher discovers me,
‘Cos writing seems my destiny

© Anthony North, July 2009

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