Memoir
In the Shadow of the Oak
Wendy Metcalfe finds an oasis of peace just off the beaten track. One of the things I decided to do during lockdown was extend the amount of walking I did every day. Before lockdown that would [… read more ]
Pens of the Earth
Fiction
Dowdy Street
By Sue Shipp Dowdy – that’s what they call me. Dowdy! They can’t be bothered to give me my full name – James Dowdy Street. No. All I hear is: cut through Dowdy, turn left [… read more ]
Poetry
Two Gardens
By Richard Williams How many mornings slid one into another, under the pergola of a lockdown garden, a mug of black coffee as shadows swung by, waiting for the page to turn. A book [… read more ]
Poetry
The Rainbow on the Wall
By Linda Hilborne Lying back on the sofa. It was so exhausting to be ill without that extra worry: will I get pneumonia next week? Millions of other people painfully processing that same fear. [… read more ]
Poetry
Common Things
By Barbara Claridge today by the underpass the jackdaw jabs criss-cross the openfield square by square like police finger tips search long grass juicy with sap between silk stems and butter cups his grey [… read more ]
Poetry
Crisis
By Diana Ashman Pandemic, a crisis planet lockdown, no autonomy or freedom of choice, people frown, authorities put rules into place, isolation, social distancing, life slows to a pace. As the weeks pass by, [… read more ]
Memoir
It Started With a Timid Message
Charlotte Comley considers the mental health implications of lockdown. The supermarket shelves were empty and people were selling toilet rolls on Amazon. And then, on the 23 March 2020, Boris Johnson told the country that [… read more ]
Fiction
Bun Penny
By Margaret Jennings When I was a child, my mother gave me a bun penny and told me that whenever I found myself in trouble I should ask Queen Victoria what to do and she [… read more ]
Poetry
Lockdown Journey
By Sue Cornell We venture onto half known pavements. Our legs carry us, our feet accelerate and brake on unfamiliar territory several streets from home. Approaching fellow travellers we nod, smile apology and cross the [… read more ]
Poetry
VE Day
By Liz Kay At Number Nine Mary is humming, twisting bunting. Her fuzzing hands wave to Number Ten where Charlie and Steve are leaving for their daily cycle. On Thursday evening, they had forgotten [… read more ]