Her first kiss

After forty days voyaging into the light

I knew the touch of a mother’s wing, brushing my face.

She opened her heart, offered a breast.

Eighty years pass; she begins her journey into darkness.

My parted lips, soft with sorrow’s breath, linger on her cooling flesh -

my last kiss

© Sophia Roberts
All rights reserved

EDITING

Interesting link, here:  What It Takes: The Second Draft (Is Not a Draft)

So what are the beginning, middle and end of Editing? How do you complete THE SECOND DRAFT THAT ISN’T A DRAFT?

Well, I’ve spent the last six months or so at www.storygrid.com to explain what it is editors do. And the website is the basis of my upcoming book The Story Grid: What Good EditorsKnow, which is just about to go to the printer.

It would be terrific if you bought a copy, but you don’t have to. Everything you need to know about editing is free at www.storygrid.com. Really.

But to answer the above question simply:

The beginning of editing is creating a Story Grid Spreadsheet.

The middle of editing is creating a Foolscap Global Story Grid.

And the end of editing is putting together the Spreadsheet and the Foolscap Page into a complete Story Grid for your first draft.

Once you’ve finished Editing or THE SECOND DRAFT THAT ISN’T A DRAFT, you will have a clear understanding of what you’ll need to do in the drafts to come. You will not fear these drafts. Rather you will be re-energized to tackle the obvious problems in your first draft with vim and vigor.

You’ll have that confidence because you’ll know exactly what you’ll need to do to fix the problems and you’ll have a strategy to get that work done.

That is what THE SECOND DRAFT THAT IS NOT A DRAFT is all about.

What It Takes: The Second Draft (Is Not a Draft)

SUBURBIA

Just in from work, still going on the 'phone.

Two young-ish daughters, always hungry, whine and moan.

He parks the car, uptight to kitchen sills;

Comes in to kiss us all and open bills.

Sub- village life's the same as in the 'burbs:

We work and live and love in equal thirds.

© Isabel Hare
All rights reserved

Claygate 1954

Bowler hats and brollies on the 7.42,

(Hinchley Wood, Clapham, Waterloo)

privet-packaged houses, net curtains a-twitch,

shanks pony for the hoi-polloi, Bentleys for the rich'

Sunday allotments, cabbages and beans,

Morris men outside the Swan, cricket on the green,

"Rag 'n' Bones!" on Tuesdays, bobby on the beat,

 sweets from the corner shop - Saturday treat! 

© Sheila Rogers
All rights reserved

Suburbia

'Suburbia shines like sweat on you,’

he sneered. ‘Your Daddy
is a middle manager. You look the part
but you are petty bourgeois to your core.
We’re through.’

He walked.

I sighed.

I didn’t say, ‘the chip upon your shoulder
bleeds. You’re on a path
to self-destruct and I
cannot
save
you.’

© Gill Dunstan
All rights reserved

Suburbia

1982 - 1986

Yes, I lived in Metroland.

Rarely catching the clattering train
to Baker Street,
Instead, I sleuthed for shards
of uniqueness in neon lit,
merrie England villas
that bordered the careful park,
Drank Benskins in a smoky pub,
sought god in a redbrick church

And failed to find what I was looking for.

© Tim Scott
All rights reserved

Suburbia

Through blind
wet windows,
a mist of lace;
identical houses
suspended in
the weightless world
of silken advertising.

Nails climb
pebble dash walls.

Key in the door.
A routine cranks
into operation.

Rules of behaviour
iron into compressed flesh.

Valium melts
in the throat.

Do not offend.

© Valerie Taylor
All rights reserved

Alter ego

To live swathed by the textured
cloak of heritage.
Secure and sure.
Resolute.
Dependable.
Known to all
but one’s self.

Then

To favour a consummation of life,
inter-twining the gossamer weft
of daily happenstance
with the warp thread of entity:
as ephemeral a dance
as motes on a sunbeam.

© Helen McIntosh
All rights reserved

RESOLUTION

 Dear Angela,

Thank you for the party. It was fun - sometimes - but we shan't come again. Democracy: Where was she born? Well, now she's gone - but that's all Greek to you. So we're going it alone. Don't worry, we'll pay you back one day - and how!

Good luck! You'll need it. (No longer) Yours.

                                                                                 Alexis

© Sheila Rogers

All rights reserved

Beyond Words

Resolution Resorts inc™

“Beyond Words”

Mission Statement:

Our passion is to provide

the premier, paradigm shifting,

in-resort vacation experience

on the North Somerset Heritage Coast

centred around both visitor and professional

gratification*.

We are committed to achieving synergies

through boutique rooming,

“fine” dining

and indulgent spa treatments,

making your stay with us truly

“Beyond words”.

*Terms and conditions apply

© Tim Scott
All rights reserved