A brand-new collection of short stories, verse and narrative song lyrics

Most of the stories in this book were written to be read or sung aloud which, to my mind, is the best way for tales to be told. Long before the invention of visual symbols made on clay, stone, paper or papyrus, humans recounted their experiences verbally. Often, no doubt, accompanied by dramatic gestures and sounds. It is also certain these narratives were embellished as they passed on so that after a while fact and fiction became blurred. But ‘fact’ is not always the same as ‘truth’, for many a wise word is wrapped up in mythical garb to make it more entertaining or memorable. With this is mind, though I have indicated the non-fiction pieces, I hope readers will approach all these tasty tales with an open mind.

Published now – May 2022 on Amazon                                                Paperback £6.99 and Ebook £1.99

NEW DAWN

one hundred years beyond the end game                                                    when our great cities have become overgrown                                         with thistles and thorns weeds and moss                                                       and everything has returned to how it once was                               wildlife will reclaim the landscape                                                                     and endangered species clamber back from the brink

 

our neatly regimented houses offices and factories

will disintegrate or become homes

for bats bears badgers rats voles and foxes

along with millions of other creatures

birds insects and reptiles.

living their harsh but innocent lives

as they have always done

 

one thousand years on

little of what remains would be recognisable to us

a concrete pile here or there

and maybe some bleached plastic odds and ends

washed up on deserted beaches

 

any inquisitive star traveller

or alien archaeologist

may clear a patch of jungle and find the remains

of a sports stadium or shopping mall and wonder

what gods were worshipped here

and by what strange creatures

 

a little more digging and it may be realised

this was the site of extensive urban sprawl

in fact a world-wide megalopolis

connected by a complex transport

and communications system

 

but something must have gone wrong

or why was it not still thriving

further investigation may detect residues

of noxious chemicals and gasses

but it seems

the earth creatures did not poison themselves

or blow one another into smithereens

 

the only clue to their demise may lie in the paws of skeletal remains

found in the decayed buildings

small oblong devices which it appeared

were not tools or weapons

but some form of messaging service

whatever data storage they once held

now long since deteriorated and

without a power source

it was hard to tell what had so mesmerised and ultimately

transfixed like stone these clever but doomed beings

 

then an alien visitor against all odds

manages to spark one gadget back into life

for a brief second or two

the screen flickers with a meaningless symbol

F