The robbers and killers came unheralded as if drawn in by an invisible cord . They arrived initially in ones and twos but soon it got around that there were easy pickings afoot for all with the speed and vigour to take them. Soon bodies were being carried dead or dying across the threshold. Murder […]
Politics-free Zone
As I’ve said in the main section, I’d like to use this part of the site for stuff that’s not got a political bent – more concerned with creative writing. I’ll put up stuff of my own from time to time and invite comment. If you’re interested in giving something you’ve written – non-political, remember, or at least with creativity the main element – then by all means put it up and let’s have a bit of discussion around it. I know people feel tentative about exposing creative stuff, especially if you haven’t done much of it yet, but believe me, it’s the only way. An un-audienced piece makes the sound of one hand clapping…
MR. ATTENBOROUGH AND THE CROCODILE by Harry McAvinchey
I see Sir David Attenborough has inadvertently become involved in the Gaza conflict . A piece attributed to him is circulating on the web and goes as follows… “I am unaware of any animal that is as cruel as Israelis — not even crocodiles. They bomb schools, hospitals, refugee camps, orphanages, UN feeding stations, water […]
FELIX DENNIS IS DEAD by Harry McAvinchey
We all pass through this way but one time only and some of us do so without leaving any kind of stain whatsoever.We may individually only be remembered within our own generation or by our children until they too die, but unless we leave something behind that is capable of capturing the public imagination beyond […]
PATRICK IS MY NAME by Randall Stephen Hall
Written by Randall Stephen Hall © 2014. https://soundcloud.com/randall-stephen-hall/patrick-is-my-name-3-8-14 Patrick is my name. I am from far away. Brought here as a slave For a price I cannot pay. But I will not bow down And worship at your throne. For I have just one king. And he’s calling me to go. Patrick is my name. […]
THE ARROGANCE OF FLAGS by Harry McAvinchey
Flags and weather …those are the things tumbling through my mind. We had been in lockdown for some twenty four hours.My little grand-daughter , while visiting and having discovered the delights of a garden full of colourful flowers the previous day ,was having none of it.It might rain down in torrents, incessantly but she would […]
ALTERNATIVE HISTORY AND COMEDY by Harry McAvinchey
Probably the best time to write is in the early morning where, as Grace Slick would have sung, the mind is moving raw. Imagery and dreamy sleep are still feeding into the brain as the body struggles, remembering, groggily how to breathe deeply and the sting in the tea is heating the belly furnace down […]
THE GREEN AND BLUE by Randall Stephen Hall
“The Green and Blue” originally entitled “Song for You and Me”. https://soundcloud.com/randall-stephen-hall/the-green-and-blue-18-7-13 I grew up in Belfast, never really relating to the conflict between Catholics and Protestants, between Unionists and Nationalists. I grew up a Presbyterian, quite different, from the broad brush stroke term, “Protestant”. I always felt like an outsider, while, as a human […]
THE FEAR OF ATHEISM AND HUMANISM IN A WORLD FULL OF WARRING GODS by Harry McAvinchey
There is talk about circulating a book about atheism in secondary schools.It follows Michael Gove giving copies of the King James’ Bible ,freely to schools. It’s called the “Young Atheist’s Handbook”. It has already been freely distributed to schools in the UK by the Humanist Society.What is there to be afraid of? Well it […]
HERE COMETH THE WASPS by Harry McAvinchey
I see that the Allied Irish Bank and the Electricity Supply Board are catching up with New York, London and Tokyo in flaunting their “green” credentials and introducing rooftop beehive colonies to their office buildings.Well, they need to do all that they can. There are more important things than money and electricity to consider. The […]
MOUNTAIN SONG by Randall Stephen Hall
The poetry that evolved into “Mountain Song” was inspired by a number of things . . . The sight of Errigal, the quiet presence of the Cavehill or the mystical bump that is Slemish. The trees that look as if they are trying to catch your attention by waving their arms. A small bell tower, […]