Paint me another red balloon please, Mr Banksy paint it with a longer string and tie it around my wrist so that it won’t escape from my little fingers and float into the sky to become a tiny dot that disappears forever; and please Mr Banksy don’t paint the wind, let it be still so that my hair doesn’t cover my eyes and my dress doesn’t flap around my knees and if the string becomes undone my new balloon won’t blow away. Continue reading Please, Mr Banksy
If I Were A Tree where would I spread my roots? where would I spend my seasons? where would my leaves shoot? In that field over there you know, the sloping one that the boy lays down in on summer days when the sun goes in and out, in and out and he makes creatures out of the clouds and sees crocodiles and dogs and wizards with pointy hats that turn into into wisps of cotton wool nothingness. Yes, that is the field the one you can see from your bedroom window the field that slopes down to the stream, … Continue reading If I Were A Tree
Another salty jaw rises, the gaping mouth widening as it arcs towards the ancient wall of Portland stone that snakes its way eastwards, a tumble of black granite boulders extending its protective reach. The jaw crashes down smashing onto the top of the sloping wall white teeth breaking onto centuries old rock that will not yield or sate the appetite of the ocean’s wild and relentless cavernous mouths that collapse into hissing torrents of saline saliva rolling back into the swelling anger readying itself to attack again and again. Continue reading The Cobb Wall at Lyme Regis
If there is one woman in my life who should be celebrated it is the one who has always been there for me; through thick and thin, good times and bad, happy times and sad. The woman who has loved me unconditionally my entire life. The one who took me to the school gates on day one of my educational journey, rubbed TCP on a grazed knee or two, looked after me when my appendix grumbled, and comforted me when I first encountered death – I still remember that cat fondly. This woman encouraged my reading and a general joy … Continue reading International Women’s Day – Part 3
A swerving ribbon of tarmac leads down to your humped back that stretches over a river hidden by the spring flood of mud-brown water spilled by broken banks. The river’s banks host summer picnickers each side of your ancient arch, children paddle in the upstream shallows, and skim flat stones beneath you that bounce out the other side. Nearby cows graze undisturbed while others lap at a stony shore. In the autumnal after-storm sun your white railings gleam. Visitors return, once again standing on your back watching the fast flowing river journey under your aged stonework, heading towards the unseen … Continue reading The White Bridge
I have worked with many women over time some of which, as well as colleagues, became friends. Some of these were managers, most were fellow team members. But two in particular I remember and see as women of inspiration – but in very different ways to each other. And these two people of inspirational are to be included in this second part of my International Women’s Day celebration post. The first female colleague that was truly inspirational to me was in actual fact my first woman line manager. This woman interviewed me for a role that was to be a … Continue reading International Women’s Day – Part 2
Being blinded by the early evening sun, I drove into the hospital grounds, searching for a space, any space in which to squeeze my car; this seemed such a long time ago as I stood in the dark, with space all around and only one vehicle to be seen – which was mine. I had entered the hospital grounds in sunlight but left under emptying clouds; I did not want to leave my son back there, struggling to survive, fighting for air. Go home the nurses said, go to bed, get some rest, come back fresh in the morning. Where … Continue reading The Midnight Drive
Today is International Women’s Day 2026. A purple ribbon day – a colour that signifies justice and dignity. This special day is being marked and celebrated in many ways including writing about a woman or women who have inspired you the most throughout life. And this is how I want to celebrate the day. I don’t suppose for a moment that the day is only for women to celebrate women, as a man I want to give some thought to a woman who has been a massive inspiration not only on my life but has continually inspired me throughout life. … Continue reading International Women’s Day – Part 1
‘I done it,’ he called up the stairs. ‘I used four matches – all at once,’ he added. I zipped up and charged down, a deep bass drum pounded inside my chest, and there it was, in all of its flickering amber glory, growing, climbing the sooted chimney, before my white-soled sandal stomped its frightened authority on paper and kindling. As it crackled and spat, and fire clung to my scarred sole, extinguished only by a dance on the tiled hearth, and I asked, ‘What d’you do that for?’ And my little brother replied, ‘Coz you couldn’t do it with … Continue reading Four Matches
From Bristol to Brighton & Bach 