By: Patrick According to Walter Benjamin, in 1839 it was considered elegant to take a tortoise out walking. Such was the pace of life that society’s flâneurs and idlers chose to lead. Looking at the endless array of advertisements on the London Underground for cognitive enhancers to ward off idleness and promote a more…
Author: ShiverWriggle
Extract from ‘Blood, Sweat, Tears and Other Fluids’
By: Wishdokter I know that at my age, one year from forty, I ought not to think about sex as much as I do. Men of a certain age, fathers and uncles, are perceived less as sexual beings. I am not quite sure if it is my perception of our sexualised society, which is…
Harvest Moon
By: Finlay This tale is a retelling of an untitled poem from Heinrich Heine’s Buch der Lieder (1827), also set to music by Franz Schubert as Der Doppelgänger. Harvest Moon (Part I of III) The hour is somewhat after 3 o’clock. Tonight I could not sleep. As usual at this season my mind is filled with that disagreeable mix of wanderlust and…
On this day, 39 years ago… Fuck digital calendars.
By: Wishdokter 11th January 2010 On this day, 39 years ago, the very first ‘Quickie Divorce’ was granted in the UK. It was also the day of my birth. I’m telling you this because I know you’re NOT going to make a fuss, wish, or worse still sing, me a happy birthday, or feel…
What, me, in love? I think not! (or, My new hat).
By: Wishdokter As of yesterday, I’m wearing a new hat, proverbially speaking. It is somewhat true, that if one thinks positively blah blah blah… No, in a case like this I will get away with believing this truth to be self evident, despite what personal history tells me. My new hat consists of a great…
Already having a bad day…
By: Wishdokter Squinting through the tears and pain he noticed just how confident she looked. She was scowling with narrowed eyes. Fresh pain washed over him like a tsunami of new fear. ‘Mona, I was going to tell you…’ He lay on his side and gripped his belly to remind him of the pain….
Just…
By: Alasdair Jude stepped into the foyer, the doorman closing the doors behind him. The difference in temperature was noticeable; he felt the air conditioned air sweep around him, removing any evidence of the high humidity of outside. As a reminder of that outside world he felt a bead of sweat run down his…
The Drift
By: Patrick Calmness In a hectic world. The soft whisper Of slippers On the marble floor Is unrelenting. Twisted surgery scars, The creamy haze of stale cigars, A beer in a special glass, Splintered hearts In an ornamental vase. Step from scene to scene, Locked in that world for hours Until all that remains…
Leaves
By: Alex You drop, faded parchment, the tale of the year retold in your script Dry rustle, nutrient rich, next year’s growth relying on your Fall. Eternal story, cycles onward, green becomes brown, yellow, red. Colours abound, nature’s spectrum, your descendants await the Spring; Tightly packed, awaiting warmth, hard now but buds wait to softly unfurl….
It’s strange how people create whole worlds out of nothing
By: Patrick It’s strange how people create whole worlds out of nothing. Kids can turn plants and bushes into war zones; adults carve out intricate patterns from millions of haphazard dots in the night sky. Even I, never renowned for the flamboyance of my inner world, manage to do it once in a while….