Inner Musings
“Everything you can imagine is real.”
~ Pablo Picasso
The Letter
Dear son, The wind still plays that same old note as it travels down from the mountains and sweeps over the hills. It rushes into the glen where I can hear it whistle in our roof. The walls creak from the strain of its force and the glass rattles in the window frame. One night … READ MORE
O, That Way Madness Lies
Dear Charles, Six months and seventeen days ago, I arrived at the property left to me by my mysterious donor. The house is in reasonable repair, other than a few minor injuries from enduring the elements for so long unattended. The leak in the roof has now been repaired. The broken windows have been replaced … READ MORE
Crocus
Every time I see a crocus, I feel sad. So sweet and blue: it is no-one’s favourite bloom and never the crown jewel of a garden. Florists never include it in their arrangements. Few artists paint it. And rarely has there been a poem or even a limerick to honour this poor little flower. The … READ MORE
Monster of the Wasteland
There are all kinds of monsters in this world, but none of them look like the ones from storybooks and ancient tales. They aren’t quite the stuff of nightmares. Instead, they smile and nod politely when you pass them in the street. They’ll make you a cup of tea if you call in at their … READ MORE
Better Days
The middle of the day feels like the dead of the night, and I’m never so alone as when I’m with you. I don’t remember the exact moment of fracture, but we drifted apart like continental plates; imperceptible up close but forever changing the shape of things. Why can’t we say goodbye? Why can’t we … READ MORE
The Bookshop
She pulls the thread taught down the crease between the pages and around the spine. The book creaks as it stretches wide. She ties the string in the centre of the spine and hangs it from a small hook on the ceiling. She does this over and over until the ceiling is covered with books … READ MORE
Oxytocin
When I wake up in the morning, and that heavy black cloud hangs over me, blocking out the light, I can see the sun rising in your eyes. I breathe a little faster. My heart beats a little heavier. That cloud dissipates, broken apart by the seed of bliss you’ve planted. You juggle the stars … READ MORE
Of Fire and Blood
Always I can see them on the horizon. First they rise high above the skyscrapers, and then they dive down like frenzied birds feeding on a school of fish. The power of their bodies is immense. I thought they wouldn’t look quite so indestructible from above. I was wrong. As our jets raced overhead, I … READ MORE
Firebug
Skeletal trees splashed with silver and charcoal glare down upon the winding road. If you stand on the very crest of the hill, they look like an army of charred trunks and twisted limbs. No animals move about within the shadows. No birds nest in the trunks of the trees. No insects make a sound … READ MORE
Rotation
Deep in a golden forest on top of an amber mountain lives a queen with violet eyes. She watches the world mournfully, waiting for its end as she sighs and drifts forever closer towards slumber. Sitting on her agate throne, she dreams of endings and loss. Golden vines creep over her, their crimson leaves fading … READ MORE
Body and Soul
It used to be spectacular. It was the sort of instrument that was given pride of place in the music shop. The display lights in the store crowned it with a halo as passers-by stopped to admire its well-made form. The polished body gleamed under the lights. And anyone who saw it could swear they … READ MORE
Eden
Deep beneath a land that no-one dares to cross, in a country few have heard of, on a continent many have never seen, is a series of caves no human has ever committed to a map. They run for many miles below a barren stretch of desert. This hollow maze twists and turns and doubles … READ MORE
Four in the Morning
It’s four in the morning at the end of June, and I find myself lying awake and listening to the words you used to say when we were younger. You called me your angel, and I never knew why, but your blue eyes used to shine so brightly every time you said those words. I … READ MORE
Perpetual Motion
I can hear it ticking, amplified by the silence of the room. Tick Tick Tick. Every hour, on the hour, the tempo increases and it ticks a little faster. Tick Tick Tick. It sounds so much louder at night as all the fleshy valves and gears move inside my body, almost buzzing as my heart … READ MORE
Transformation
In a forest of bamboo, you can actually hear the trees growing. At first you’re not sure what it was that you heard. A rustle. A scraping noise like wood against stone. A stirring as leaves unfurl into crisp, sharp points. Bamboo can grow up to ninety-one centimetres in a single day, which is about … READ MORE
Message From a Loved One
Your heart has wings. Just about everyone should know this about themselves, yet so few do. Your heart has the capacity to soar beyond the sky and into the outer reaches of the atmosphere, where the temperatures drop to below freezing and Noctilucent clouds drift across the planet. It can also drop from these heights … READ MORE
Embers
Embers streak across the sky before exploding in a shower of colours. Rockets whir through the air. They glide passed each other like brilliant firebirds until finally colliding in a blinding flash which lights up the night. The blast sends shockwaves through the crowd. My ears are ringing afterwards with that inaudible note which persists … READ MORE
Life
The sun lights up every drop of rain that plummets down to the earth. Clouds drift apart and reform. The smell is lovely as the rain evaporates under the sun from the ocean of hills before me. A thousand hills and each one is different. A million trees, each as unique as a person. A … READ MORE
Starry, Starry Night
‘All these years, and I’m still afraid of the dark,’ she admits quietly, avoiding his gaze. ‘I know that I shouldn’t be, but it’s not like there’s a switch to turn it off. The human mind just isn’t that simple.’ ‘Are you afraid right now?’ he asks. She brushes a strand of silver-grey hair away … READ MORE
Nocturnal
The pale bark peels away from the tree trunk in long, narrow strips. Small fragments of the papery substance begin to fall. Collected by the wind, they’re carried away, rising up and down like wings as they flutter between branches. They begin to circle one another. As one rises, the others follow, twirling around each … READ MORE
Climb These Cliffs
I clamber up the face of a sunset cliff, hand after hand and foot after foot. The slice of clean blue sky is drawing nearer while the furious sea below gets further away. My fingers ache. They’re scraped and bleeding from the climb, while my carefully-tended nails are chipped beyond repair. I force myself to … READ MORE
Temperance
She stands atop a marble base, as smooth and perfect as a statue. Her eyes are closed as she balances on one leg. Each hand is wrapped around a cup; one is full of clear liquid while the other is empty. Both cups are chipped and have a network of tiny cracks across the worn … READ MORE
Eyes of the Beholder
I’ve wasted years thinking about them, picturing how they look in as much detail as I can summon, and yet the harder I try the more elusive they become. I can see them before me, clear and mesmerizing. Whether my eyes are open or closed, I can still perceive them just beyond my reach, drenched … READ MORE
Years in the Making
I try to hold myself together, pressing each component that makes up my being into place until I hear a click, like the snap of Lego pieces being pushed into place. Before I position each segment where it belongs, I add a thick squishy layer of glue to the edges of every jagged shard. I … READ MORE
Buried
She digs through the sand with a calm, unnatural sort of focus. Each handful feels soft and powdery on her skin as it slips between her fingers every time she attempts to gather it up. She has been digging for hours now. Her nails are chipped. The skin on her hands has been rubbed raw … READ MORE
“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were, but without it we go nowhere.”
~ Carl Sagan
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