Monthly Archives: June 2016

Mirror, Mirror, You’re So Mean

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mirror, Georgian House, Edinburgh

 

Mirror, Mirror on the wall,
My most constant companion and partner of all,
Tell me I’ll win my handsome rich love
And make his heart flutter like the wings of a dove.

My Lady, you’ll snag the gent you desire
For your beauty enchants like sweet songs from a lyre.

Then why do you show me this hideous face –
Grim, haggard, addled and lacking all grace?

My Lady, I’m trying my very best,
But it’s not at all easy to fulfill your request.

Mirror, Mirror, you’re so mean and unkind
To show me this face like a donkey’s behind.

Lady, the problem’s not mine if the truth be told,
For I shine most brilliantly in my frame of gold.

*****

Inspired by The Weekly Photo Challenge: Partners

The mirror was photographed in The Georgian House, Edinburgh.

Today I Feel Like Singing

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IMG_5621

 

I do not sing often. I
do not have a sweet
tone nor do I recognize
notes but today
I feel like singing.
An ode, I think. Yes, an ode
will be perfect. An ode to
joy. Are you ready? You must
brace yourself. You can’t say
I didn’t warn you that my tone
is not the most harmonious or
dulcet. Indeed, it has
been compared to a summer’s
rake drawn savagely across a Continue reading →

Cat of Malice

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Alice snatched Mr. Sporratt’s cat when he went inside his house to fetch the clippers to trim his prize rose bush.

She was surprised at herself.IMG_4631

She knew she hated Mr. Sporratt’s cat, the way it sat on the wall staring at her, flicking its tail from side to side. She felt in her bones it was a cat of pure malice.

But there had been no plan to snatch the cat, no premeditation.

The problem was, now that she had Mr. Sporratt’s cat, what was she to do with it?

And why was it not trying to escape? Why was it Continue reading →

No.6 – House of Ghosts

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Door of number 6My house – number 6 – is a house of ghosts.

I know because when I turn around the old lady is standing there, right behind me.

“This is my house now.” I tell her firmly. “It’s time for you to go.”

I don’t want to be unkind but it’s very disconcerting to have someone, however insubstantial, wafting around, appearing when you least expect or want it. In the kitchen, when I’m experimenting with a complicated new recipe. In the bathtub, soaking in the fragrant foam. Changing a light bulb, teetering at the top of the stepladder, the little screws between my teeth, about to drop the glass cover.

Sometimes her husband comes with her. I assume he’s her husband. He’s a little more wizened, a little more stooped than her. He stays behind her, his shadowy body averted as though he’s embarrassed to be inconveniencing me like this. He’s showing me by his stance that he’s apologizing for this intrusion. I feel he wants me to know that she’s doing this against his advice, that it’s not his idea.

At least he has boundaries. He never appears when I’m in the bath. That really would be the limit. And he never appears alone. I suspect he is Continue reading →

The Bundle of Spare Dreams

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She has so many dreams. Far too many.

Surely she could spare a few for those less fortunate, who don’t have any at all?

This one she doesn’t need any more, the one about becoming a famous film star (with her teeth? stupid, stupid).

Nor this one about becoming a concert pianist (almost…no, nowhere near).

As for the dream about losing fifty pounds in four weeks, that dream has hardly been used. It’s as good as new. Someone could Continue reading →