Short Story Club


  1. Dreams Do Come True
  2. Endless Game
  3. Ready To Die
  4. The Risk


In My View


  1. Living A Value Based Life
  2. Self-Care In A Crisis
  3. Baby Girl Expectations
  4. My Feminist Journey
  5. The Experiential Diary


Fragments


  1. The Importance Of Basquiat
  2. Get To Know Steve McCurry
  3. The Passage That Changed Me
  4. Let’s Talk 1984
  5. Literature So Black
  6. Dave The Storyteller
  7. 10vs10 A Lockdown Tale of Enjoyment
  8. Views
  9. An Ode To Insecure
  10. Michaela Coel Is The Goal
  11. The Elite Desperate Housewives
  12. Ugly Betty: Was It Really Love?
  13. 90s Black Cinema


Poet’s Corner


  1. Breakdown
  2. Delusions Of Grandeur
  3. Helen Of Troy
  4. Crush
  5. Truest Self
  6. What Do I Want?
  7. Rise
  8. Best In The Multiverse
  9. A Complex Affair with Misery
  10. I Did The Love Game Wrong

Breakdown



It started with my car;

8 minutes from my destination

I broke down towards the end of the A404.

And how do I know it was the end?

I could see the roundabout about 50 yards away.

Two hours on the roadside

With a trusted friend who came to help,

But in the end after causing so much traffic

It was the police who closed the lane

And pushed my car onto a slip road.

The app for my insurance was down for maintenance 

I couldn’t get through to the helpline

Helpless, the car we abandoned 

And off the party we went.

This was a problem for tomorrow.

The insurance didn’t cover breakdown of course

So a pricey 2 hour toll in the snow I was graced with.

Finally after 24 hours of turmoil, 

I arrived home with a £300 hole in my pocket,

More trouble awaited so for now we’ll leave the car,

It’s not going anywhere.

I’d been through a snow storm 

Only to find another in the centre of my home

Alcoholism resides in our household

It plagues my father

And with it he terrorises us.

He was on a steady decline

And the severity was causing sleepless nights

There were endless disturbances all through December 

He was as cold as the chill outside

Showing disdain to all around him

Disrespecting us all

Pushing relationships beyond disrepair 

Exhibiting no care for boundaries 

And leaving no room for our feelings.

My family is falling apart and I can’t go anywhere,

Remember my car is dead.

Things fall apart,

And a few other things decided to follow,

My health decided to decline,

My self-esteem wanted to shatter,

My will to live fleeting,

And from all angles I was bombarded with

Tis’ the season.

I wasn’t jolly,

You could liken me to the Grinch,

My heart stone cold,

It could damage a brick.

I was wailing and flailing,

Grasping for air,

Wondering why I was chosen to suffer,

Thinking how every little decision,

With outcomes I didn’t know,

Led me to this hell,

And I blamed myself,

As if I should’ve seen the future,

But finding myself grounded,

With no car to flee,

I realise that the universe

Just wants to get a reaction out of me.

I’ll keep myself calm,

Try not to lose the plot,

Because every action

Has a reaction,

And mine is that

I know I’ll be just alright.