When you can’t say no

‘Stop that. I am sorry he can be a right little

monster sometimes,’ Helen said, in an

apologetic tone. Why had she agreed to look

after him, she thought trying to grab

Tommy’s arm.

.....‘Now sit down, the nice lady is talking.’

.....‘Sorry.’ The job interview was not going well

Going beyond

The sea was his last and first memory.

.....Once the smell of a father fresh from the

boats that held and danced him into the

sea, laughing at the waves and fretting

womenfolk.

.....Now as the glass bottom light darkens,

he stops struggling as the voices of his past call.

When your love fades

The water tippled into the bath; soon the

comfort of warm water would distract her.

.....Listening, he turned the laptop on, found

tissues and started surfing for the forbidden

—steaks cooking, bacon sizzling in easy

diners. Wiping his drooling mouth, he knew

that her nut cutlets were no longer enough.

Sex in England

The bed knocking woke him up.Ted glanced at the clock. 'Bloody  Hell,' and went to bang the wall.
.                          *** 
'Ooh no, I'll not be able to show my face,' she said. 'Wrap a pillow over you.'
..........................***
'No use. They aren't stirring. You and your effing spice it up with bondage.'

On the weekend of the new football season.

'Feel my forehead and chest', Steve said

feebly.

.....You are just trying to get out of Anna's

fiftieth, Nigela said.

.....Reaching over she was shocked to feel

how hot they were.

.....'I supposed I could go with Rosemary.'

.....Steve, moving the hot-water bottle away before she saw it, nodded weakly.

Careful what you wish for

They staggered on through the moonlight, a

grey line stretching from hill to hill—silent

except for the groans of the wounded and

the flutter of ragged flags. The swaggered

farewells of spring long replaced with anger.

.....At his execution, the King still shouted,

‘Victory or Death.’

....The mob agreed.

The peacemaker’s creed

You are a yellow-belly but you sing.
You are a yellow-belly but want love.
You are a yellow-belly and say now.

You stand and say why wait; let us stop now!
Others only kill but you want to sing.
They come to look on you with hate, not love

The stabs start in the night but you give love.
Angry voices squash your pleas for peace now.
They crush your flesh but our spirit will sing

I’m a yellow-belly and sing love now