Gone

The clock struck ten.
Shadows flickered like memories on the wall.
She downed her glass, then poured another;
gazed mutely at the fire, the shards of glass,
the spilled wine darkening the carpet by the chair,
his chair, still dented by his warmth.
"I'm sorry," she whispered to no-one.

© Sheila Rogers
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Atmosphere

Mysterious signs requiring

sharp perception of senses.

Transient shifts open for

interpretation - though elusive.

Light – air pressure – sound –

gentle smell – colour - movement -

a soul’s breath, the sigh of a tree,

papery kiss of a leaf falling-

harvested for memory,

transcendent as a moment

passes, fleeing capture.

© Valerie Taylor

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Create an (atmosphere) ...

5.00pm: Las Canteras Beach – Isleta – Las Palmas

Carlos scooped up the change from the cuenta of the last of the late lunchtime diners.  It would be quiet now until nine o’clock.  This was the part of the day he liked best.  A little cooler, it was when the half- board tourists would stroll along the paseo before having their hotel suppers at an hour unthinkable to the Spanish. 

He looked beyond the stone benches - where a guitarist had played softly for the last half hour - along the curve of the bay towards the volcanic hills behind.  The sun would set soon.

His attention, though, was drawn to a man and a woman leaning against the railings above the beach.  They were kissing with the intensity of new lovers, cleaving to each other, oblivious of a girl who skimmed past them on roller blades, swerving to avoid a bronzed, silver haired couple in matching white trousers and t-shirts.

The lovers were in their late thirties, he judged - his age.  She was a little plump in tight pink tracksuit trousers and her blond hair revealed dark roots; his hair was thinning from the front and he wore sunglasses which reflected the determination in her face.  Their kissing and clutching and stroking had a desperate quality to it – as if by holding each other so closely love would not slip this time.  Little lower than angels, mused Carlos.

He waved to a fellow camarero, turned towards the kitchen and once again thought of his wife in Cuba.

© Tim Scott

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AN AFRICAN FACE

Oh tribal African; is this your face

Strong and powerful

Does it depict your Race

This special image to portray

A stern & knowing expression

Below hair that is lately grey

© Kenneth Campbell

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HOW ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL CREATED AN ATMOSPHERE

Rail pumping stations were constructed every three miles from Exeter to Starcross. Beneath the leading piston carriage hung a 15ft long piston, with small wheels outside the pipe that opened and closed an iron and leather-flap valve. The piston entered the end of the pipe and pressure from the atmosphere pushed the piston up the pipe.

© Kenneth Campbell

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This Place Has No Atmosphere

God was bored.

He’d left nothing

to His imagination.

He’d created himself out a job;

when the serpent saved the day,

(which God - being God - didn’t admit).

Now, Adam had someone to blame for everything;

Eve had someone who’d always need her.

So, God declared, “Let History begin.”

© Sophia Roberts

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Shoes

I'm always watching

on the web

for shoes,

small and attractive

but I have to have

four pairs the same

because I'm

an arachnid      

© William Botley

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The Shoes

Her Cinderella shoes,

had tiny, black suede straps.

Her dress, full-skirted, midnight-blue, set off

the marquisate which sparkled at her neck.

Fragrant in Soir de Paris,

she seemed an angel to my childish eyes.

After her death, I wore her French lace stole

and glassy shoes.  Gained compliments.

It was never the same.

© Gill Dunstan

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Strategies for Writing

 In honor of Anne Lamott, here’s a tips list summarizing, very briefly, some of the points she makes in her terrific book on writing, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.

1. Write regularly, whether you feel like writing or not, and whether you think what you’re writing is any good or not.
2. Give yourself short assignments. Keep it manageable so you don’t get overwhelmed.
3. Write sh**ty first drafts. (I’m not being prissy about the word choice, just don’t want to get hung up in spam filters.) Don’t expect a piece of writing to flow perfectly out of your fingers on the first go. Of all the points she makes, many people seem to find this one the most helpful.
4. Let the Polaroid develop; in other words, observe, watch, listen, stay in the moment, until you understand what you want to write about.
5. Know your characters.
6. Let the plot grow out of the characters.
7. If you find that you start a number of stories or pieces that you don’t ever bother finishing…it may be that there is nothing at their center about which you care passionately. You need to put yourself at their center, you and what you believe to be true or right.”
8. Figure out ways to jam the transmissions from Radio KFKD, the interior station feeding doubts and criticism into your brain. Especially about jealousy of other writers.
9. Have pen and paper ready at all times. (She always carries an index card.)
10. Call around. Ask for help.
11. Start a writing group.
12. Write in your own voice.
13. Being published brings a quiet joy, but it doesn’t transform your life, and eventually you have to write again.
14. “Devotion and commitment will be their own reward.”

from The Happiness Project

Shoes

Edges curled, grey

with age and mould.

The valley at the base

of the toes, reflecting

the lift and push of

each tarsal, working in unison

undulating sculpted into this

battered old man’s shape.

The lip of the heel sucked in

towards itself, gnarled, splayed,

as his personality pushed and forced

the leather into its own coffin.

© Valerie Taylor

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