seashore
By seashore
Stories, prose, poems
- 1505 reads
A day in the life of a trouser-finisher
2nd March - re-categorised Semi-fictional account of life in a Victorian Sweatshop
- Read more about A day in the life of a trouser-finisher
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2791 reads
A girl named Ana
Pro-Ana is a name for community websites supporting those with an eating disorder - often referred to by users simply as `Ana'
- Read more about A girl named Ana
- 25 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 7121 reads
A kind of therapy
What to do when the counsellor cancels...
- Read more about A kind of therapy
- 39 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 12212 reads
A life unlived
another version of a previous posting
- Read more about A life unlived
- 14 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 4037 reads
A lonely man
on getting to know more about L S Lowry
- Read more about A lonely man
- 30 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 9173 reads
All my seasons of grass
with Wimbledon just round the corner it got me thinking and reminiscing..
- Read more about All my seasons of grass
- 29 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 7915 reads
An unknown soldier
I recently found a photo of a relative killed in France in 1916 aged 22. Seeing his face looking back at me I kept thinking about him and wishing I'd known him
- Read more about An unknown soldier
- 39 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 9829 reads
Babysitting
it won't always be so I know
- Read more about Babysitting
- 15 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3891 reads
Beautifully
Three people I remember in particular..
- Read more about Beautifully
- 18 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5065 reads
Black & White (IP)
This is an old piece I re-discvered in the archives - it seems to fit the IP criteria so hope I'm not cheating!
- Read more about Black & White (IP)
- 16 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5101 reads
Ciara aged five and a bit
`The moon is like a smile'
- Read more about Ciara aged five and a bit
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3030 reads
Cold turkey in a clinic with no name, 2000 (IP)
Valium withdrawals in a very strange clinic conforming to Rudolf Steiner's principles of Theosophical medicine. This was not at all what I was expecting....
- Read more about Cold turkey in a clinic with no name, 2000 (IP)
- 21 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5867 reads
Colouring Gaugin
When I think of you my thoughts are yellow tinged with red, not the cool shades of lemon or cadmium (like the yellow Christ) but more the warm ochre of golden light on lady-skin
- Read more about Colouring Gaugin
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3441 reads
Conceptual
with a little help from Damien Hirst (though of course he doesn't know it)
- Read more about Conceptual
- 26 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 7543 reads
Dear John
this one's for a close friend who recently passed
- Read more about Dear John
- 22 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5877 reads
Dignity
choosing to die the Dignitas way
- Read more about Dignity
- 24 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 6714 reads
Evensong
all my unborn babies no obvious connection but inspired by a line from Keats
- Read more about Evensong
- 28 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 6941 reads
Feeding the ducks
Heavy with him and you...
- Read more about Feeding the ducks
- 24 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5899 reads
Girl by the lake, standing
"Before us stands yesterday" - Ted Hughes: The Crow Above quote doesn't have much to do with this poem - I just liked it.
- Read more about Girl by the lake, standing
- 25 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 6554 reads
Goodbye to the Cherry Orchard
On a warm fragrant May morning Anya tiptoes through her special place, one hand lifting swishing skirts free of the soft earth. My sunshine, my Spring she thinks, watching the light
- Read more about Goodbye to the Cherry Orchard
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3297 reads
Green (IP)
Green box for this, Black box for that Swing bin for something else and The big bin for everything not in the others - But nobody ever calls Each week I consult my leaflet
- Read more about Green (IP)
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2567 reads
Happy
Have you ever been happy in your life? She asks, and it doesn't take long remembering... the moment, one moment of nothing much - a boy, a girl and a baby in a buggy;
- Read more about Happy
- 34 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 12902 reads
Home
reflections on my 25th move
- Read more about Home
- 29 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 10085 reads
Home is where the art is
I knew just where I was this time yesterday - the old familiar smells of linseed turps and oils, sounds of easels dragging over dusty floorboards - clips klinking, restraining
- Read more about Home is where the art is
- 34 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 9193 reads
I couldn't bear for you to be cold
I can't believe it's really you in this hospital bed in intensive care, eyes closed and oh so still; a machine breathing for you and a geometric pattern
- Read more about I couldn't bear for you to be cold
- 21 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 6824 reads
I don't like porridge
Last posting for a bit, until I get my act together. This is one of those childhood memories that never goes away.
- Read more about I don't like porridge
- 37 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 13155 reads
I'm a painter not a writer
I'm a painter not a writer an artisan art-maker splat-splashing my concoctions Pollock-like big and bigger.. See my multi-coloured multi-layered landscaped mindscaped pebble-dashed
- Read more about I'm a painter not a writer
- 26 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 7781 reads
If you only knew
how it was
- Read more about If you only knew
- 37 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 9461 reads
Imaginings
Imaginings John Did you ever imagine How it would be When Maxwell's silver hammer Finally struck home? In those last moments Before your life ebbed away, Did you see them
- Read more about Imaginings
- 13 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2849 reads
In the art gallery
I won't say which one
- Read more about In the art gallery
- 14 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3486 reads
Jubilee hats
a re-write that may well not be the last but determined to get this to work somehow
- Read more about Jubilee hats
- 22 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5244 reads
Leaving
with a little help from my friends, John & Paul of course. Wednesday morning at five o'clock as the day begins - Lennon/McCartney
- Read more about Leaving
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2841 reads
Listen now
and listen well I don't want you wearing black wear purple orange or red instead - no big black crawling chariot holding up traffic strap me atop a bright red sports car
- Read more about Listen now
- 23 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 7507 reads
Living with trains
Morning breaks As sweet bird songs lure me Forgetting that nature fakes It's prelude to the real overture. So I wait For the first train, Moving soft and swift,
- Read more about Living with trains
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2934 reads
Lullaby
forgotten how to write....so just a few practice lines
- Read more about Lullaby
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3247 reads
Madwomen in an Attic
Here I am, me and four other women all huddled together in an attic. How, why or where I have no idea; neither have I any recollection of events leading up to this incarceration.
- Read more about Madwomen in an Attic
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2332 reads
Me, Matisse and the Snail (IP)
Re-hashed version of previous piece - am now deleting version 1 as no point in having two Snail pieces around and I think this one works better (I hope).
- Read more about Me, Matisse and the Snail (IP)
- 18 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 4136 reads
Mia and the colour purple
If I could paint you an aura it would be in shades of purple, subtle with a touch of violet and a delicate hint of mauve; all the colours you love, sweet Mia, little dreamer,
- Read more about Mia and the colour purple
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2630 reads
Missing You
These words have been a long time coming...
- Read more about Missing You
- 22 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5958 reads
My Mother and The Man
He was always there when I got home from school. I would know by the smell of tobacco smoke and the laughing and coughing that it was him in the kitchen with my mother.
- Read more about My Mother and The Man
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2079 reads
No daisy chains
Pink Floyd meets John Bunyan, in a manner of speaking
- Read more about No daisy chains
- 14 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3576 reads
Not cherries again (IP)
Cherries, you say? But I've been there done that already. I even got the T-shirt (you know what I mean). I said my goodbyes before killing off a whole orchard
- Read more about Not cherries again (IP)
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1889 reads
Obsolete
No idea how to categorise this one so I'll leave it open to interpretation..
- Read more about Obsolete
- 15 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3706 reads
On looking at a painting by the Cornish artist Peter Lanyon
Inspired by a recent visit to Tate Britain. Peter Lanyon died following a gliding accident in 1964 at the age of 46.
- Read more about On looking at a painting by the Cornish artist Peter Lanyon
- 28 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 7859 reads
On the edge (IP)
This is based on face. A rare venture into prose so not at all confident - please feel free to criticize.
- Read more about On the edge (IP)
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3421 reads
One Night Stand
Morning after the night before.. a further slight edit 15.1.11
- Read more about One Night Stand
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3456 reads
PINK
Pink stains on a grey Winter sky Brown-green grass Strip-teases the communal lawn Yet still the orange-red rowan berries Hang heavy from the bare grey-green twig-branches
- Read more about PINK
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1917 reads
Poppies for my daughter
Re-write of last year's version -not at all sure about poem but determined to crack the `add image' option. Hope it works...
- Read more about Poppies for my daughter
- 33 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 9470 reads
Portrait of an artist, sleeping
remembering a fellow art student from my college days back in the 70's
- Read more about Portrait of an artist, sleeping
- 25 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 6642 reads
Resurrection (IP)
I believe I saw you
- Read more about Resurrection (IP)
- 24 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 7464 reads
ROOMS BY THE SEA
ROOMS BY THE SEA (after Rooms by the Sea painted by Edward Hopper in 1951) So after all it was you Edward Hopper who took me to the sun and coloured me a room
- Read more about ROOMS BY THE SEA
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3575 reads
Saints and Sinners in Margate
my roads less-travelled are signposted Margate, where the saints and sinners dwell...
- Read more about Saints and Sinners in Margate
- 21 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5092 reads
Saturday's child
One from the archives, re-written
- Read more about Saturday's child
- 21 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5877 reads
Scenes from a marriage
A long, long time ago...
- Read more about Scenes from a marriage
- 17 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 4041 reads
School Doctor
I stand there dressed only in my regulation school knickers. I am shivering and ashamed as, although I am eleven years old, I still have no breasts.
- Read more about School Doctor
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5973 reads
She said, he said
what's in a word
- Read more about She said, he said
- 20 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5946 reads
Snapshot of my brother
Edited re-post
- Read more about Snapshot of my brother
- 19 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 4370 reads
St Ives, Summer 1993
This is becoming an annual event a celebratory ritual; another Cornish idyll. In Topsham Devon a job ends, the rain spills, I paint all night, sleep all day.
- Read more about St Ives, Summer 1993
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3006 reads
Stuck on you
This is an edited re-post at my daughter's request as she too is a big Elvis fan and January 8th is his birthday...
- Read more about Stuck on you
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2667 reads
Sunday Bloody Sunday
a personal response to Andy Murray's loss to Federer in the Wimbledon Men's Final - probably destined for the delete button as it's a bit cheesy...
- Read more about Sunday Bloody Sunday
- 20 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5010 reads
The Canine Rival
We could be alike Our emotions are so similar Staring each other out You look away first Yet it’s obvious Your relationship with him Has already outlasted mine
- Read more about The Canine Rival
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1288 reads
The flautist
a special moment
- Read more about The flautist
- 17 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 4181 reads
The Late Miss Rigby
She is all the lonely people hiding behind doors, walking at night, experiencing life vicariously through lighted windows and television screens. She has watched him from
- Read more about The Late Miss Rigby
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2138 reads
THE ONE IN THE NEST
Nursery rhyme: "one flies east, one flies west, and one flew over the cuckoo's nest"
- Read more about THE ONE IN THE NEST
- 39 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 10910 reads
The Optician
My mother, always an embarrassment to me, takes me to the Optician. I am thirteen and have recently been unable to see the blackboard at school without squinting.
- Read more about The Optician
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3623 reads
The poet and the art teacher
based on personal experience of being a teacher in an all-male prison in the 80s. Apologies to all shaven-headed tattooed people reading this...
- Read more about The poet and the art teacher
- 24 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 7029 reads
The sadness of tulips
a bit late for Spring, or perhaps not
- Read more about The sadness of tulips
- 21 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 10869 reads
The Silent Witness
As many of you already know, my daughter Julia (who wrote as Overthetop1 on Abc) died suddenly in May whilst on a short unescorted outing from a Mental Health Unit. She was due to move into a care facility in the community very soon, and as yet the cause of her death is still unknown. She had been to a cafe near the hospital for a sandwich, and the cafe owner, seeing how unwell she was, followed her out. Unfortunately Julia never made it back to the ward. Later the cafe owner told her sister and I what happened before we got to the hospital. Coral Jane
- Read more about The Silent Witness
- 29 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 11547 reads
The Tired Dancer
The tired dancer resting, took up her brush and created a choreography in paint and collage where her free-moving spirit could meander at will through clovered valleys and stormy hillsides,
- Read more about The Tired Dancer
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2163 reads
The way we were
unfinished symphonies
- Read more about The way we were
- 34 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 8759 reads
Those Sunday Visits (IP)
the sort of kissing that's not very enjoyable to a child
- Read more about Those Sunday Visits (IP)
- 32 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 8622 reads
Toxic
The problems of involuntary benzodiapine addiction & withdrawals have again hit the news (front page of the Times,1.10.12) prompting me to post this, scribbled in a notebook two years ago...
- Read more about Toxic
- 30 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 8534 reads
Trust (IP)
There you go again my little one, swinging high swinging low flying through the air, waiting for me to catch you like I always do. Will this set you up for life or somewhere
- Read more about Trust (IP)
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2319 reads
Venetian Interlude (IP)
unknown man in the Piazza san Marco
- Read more about Venetian Interlude (IP)
- 30 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 9442 reads
Wallpaper
another look back to childhood - this time a long way back
- Read more about Wallpaper
- 13 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3230 reads
Watching the candle burn
August 6th: one date, different years, distinctive for two members of the same family - one lived a very short time, the other much longer - both imperfect
- Read more about Watching the candle burn
- 19 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5333 reads
Yellow for my daughter
An edit of an old piece I want to re-post in memory of my daughter Julia Jane Macpherson who died suddenly May 18th. She also wrote on this site as Overthetop1. Coral Jane
- Read more about Yellow for my daughter
- 35 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 9905 reads
Blue
The recent loss of my firstborn has brought back the pain of another loss...
- Read more about Blue
- 41 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 23175 reads
AND SO IT IS
And so it is as a planet mourns and the grey sleepless days and nights of grief and isolation build to an inevitable crescendo In Spring, the daily...
- Read more about AND SO IT IS
- 19 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 4426 reads
Killing the killers
Not for the faint-hearted. Just a way of releasing the anger regarding the preventable death of my daughter resulting from the side effects of a drug now known to be responsible for over 400 deaths a year.
- Read more about Killing the killers
- 30 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3009 reads