Story and Poem of the Month

Our picks for November, very kindly chosen by Mark Say:

Story of the month

This month’s top pick is one to put a smile on your face - Chocolate, Tobacco and Horse Muck by Turlough. It’s a lovely combination of family and social history, including a series of funny anecdotes and turns of phrase, all told with affection and good eye for detail of a past life. Highly entertaining and quite touching.

https://www.abctales.com/story/turlough/chocolate-tobacco-and-horse-muck?fbclid=IwAR0XoTo2OplhqDlpKNdlCge3Qw_EHXBJKB4vjklUtmWE3pyxSl3XdR00ttQ

Two others well worth a look. Twosies or Threesies by celticman is a vivid vignette about friendship and tension between young boys living in poverty in the 1950s; and Trail of Misunderstanding by Jennifer Skinner is an intriguing and slightly disturbing description of how the unexpected can quickly turn a moment of peace into a surge of anxiety.

https://www.abctales.com/story/celticman/twosies-or-threesies#comment-758041

https://www.abctales.com/story/skinnerjennifer/trail-misunderstanding#comment-757940

Poem of the month

My favourite from the month is Debris by agnosticnun. It’s a poignant piece about a recent bereavement, told with economy and everyday language, conveying the loss through a series of objects and simple questions about the past.

https://www.abctales.com/story/agnosticnun/debris#comment-757942

I’m also giving a nod to Turlogh’s The Friday Pazar in Gornya Oryahovitsa, a vivid stream of imagery of an Eastern market, conveyed with a gently thumping rhythm that makes it highly entertaining; and Old Soldiers by Ewan, a series of images progressing from the camaraderie of soldiers to the violent reality of war to the numbing of PTSD.

https://www.abctales.com/story/turlough/friday-pazar-gorna-oryahovitsa

https://www.abctales.com/story/ewan/old-soldiers