2 days agoHow to Write Flash FictionThe one about Covid My colleague Roger is a brilliant mathematician. Every year his pupils score 4 or 5 A* in Further Maths. He loves discoursing on probabilities. Anyone would be excused for guessing that he’d be a staunch supporter of vaccination, but he’s agin it. The evidence is flaky…Flash Fiction2 min readFlash Fiction2 min read
4 days agoA Word of Warning from the WiseUncle Do was a wise old dodo. He was not in great shape as he happened to be the oldest in his neck of the woods. His bones creaked, his jaws hurt when he chewed, but he was the only one of his flock who could still fly. Which made…The Dodo2 min readThe Dodo2 min read
Jan 28How to write flash fictionThe one with God — When Escobar dropped his baton, two or three people were aiming to pick it up, with none more prominent than Gustavo Gomez, known to all as El Matador. He was just as ruthless and bloodthirsty, and astute businessman that he was in less than six years he was reputed to…Escobar2 min readEscobar2 min read
Jan 10A Poem by Victor HugoThe most revered French author was something of a lecher who loved few things more than sex. He had a string of lovers and mistresses, including Sarah Bernhardt, and his own daughter-in-law. The French are as reluctant to discuss this as the British, Dickens’ blatant racism_ and I don’t just…Victor Hugo2 min readVictor Hugo2 min read
Jan 6LimitsHowever hard you try when you go to the gym Than your skeleton you’ll never be more slim Though you can well afford the Superbowl final No money could get you to your own funeralComic Verse1 min readComic Verse1 min readLimitsHowever hard you try when you go to the gymThan your skeleton you’ll never be more slimpic by Svetjekolem (Unsplash)Though you can well afford the Superbowl finalNo money could get you to your own funeral----
Jan 5Cherry BlossomThis story was inspired by the Japanese film Love like falling petals in which the heroine Misaki is afflicted with a progeroid syndrome, making her age rapidly, putting an end to the beautiful romance that had bloomed between her and her photographer lover Haruke. This is a story set in…Love Falling Like Petals19 min readLove Falling Like Petals19 min read
Dec 20, 2022A Short Film Script (Version 2)I published “A Short Film Script” in April 2018; this one is a modified version. Readers might like to compare them LONG SHOT: Smoke-filled Club. MEDIUM SHOT: Man and Woman are dancing lasciviously together. MEDIUM CLOSE SHOT: They kiss. CLOSE-UP: Contact of lips. MEDIUM CLOSE SHOT: They smile at each…Bogart2 min readBogart2 min read
Dec 15, 2022Qatar 2022I. Lachrymatorium The lachrymatory at Lusail will not hold all the tears of the mothers children and wives of the sixteen thousand and twenty one who lost their lives As they fell down the scaffold Or had their skulls crushed by falling concrete in forty five degrees of heat! II Horror and…World Cup1 min readWorld Cup1 min read
Nov 4, 2022The horror! The horror!The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is among one of the most famous novellas ever written. Conrad had effectively travelled the Congo river from Matadi where it flows into the Atlantic to its other end in the east, Stanleyville or Kisangani. He probably met the infamous Stanley, but there…Kurtz6 min readKurtz6 min read
Oct 26, 2022Poems of Charles BaudelaireCharles Baudelaire was probably the first of France’s many poètes maudits, so dubbed because of their nonconformism and for their refusal to consider any subject taboo, and for which he was castigated by the literary establishment of the day. He had travelled extensively, and indulged in many of the activities…Poete Maudit12 min readPoete Maudit12 min read