Fiction
Sky Food
By Sue Harper After the Great Blizzard, Portsmouth looked like the North Pole. Snow was six feet high in the streets, deeper where it had drifted, and little narrow walkways were excavated where people could [… read more ]
Pens of the Earth
Poetry
The Plane Tree
By Patricia J. Arnold. There you stand majestic tree Branches spread high over me I wonder how long you have stood in this place And what are your thoughts of the human race. [… read more ]
Fiction
Planting Nature – A Walk In The Woods
By Bruce Parry It’s when I went off track across a wild bit that I found a full size walnut tree…just on its own, not with others, just on its own…just there in the middle…on [… read more ]
Fiction
A Sliver of Life
By Sue Shipp We’d just sat down from our labours when Old Roy appeared on the grass path running between the allotments, eating a nectarine, the other hand hidden behind his back. He slopped along [… read more ]
Social Issues
Wilder Portsmouth
Inspired by the many fabulous environmental initiatives taking place in Portsmouth, Pens of the Earth was set up to encourage writers to celebrate existing projects, and to imagine what might be. This week Andy Ames reports on [… read more ]
Fiction
Socks
By Helen Salsbury ‘This Christmas,’ his daughter Keira said, ‘we want to get you something special. Not just socks.’ Outside, blood-red leaves were gathering in the concrete corners of the courtyard, swept off early in [… read more ]
Poetry
The Weeping Ash Tree
I love trees and tree hugging can be reassuring and spiritually uplifting. Trees matter to all of us, especially to we who live in cities, because they absorb atmospheric pollutants thus purifying the air we [… read more ]
Fiction
Better Shape
By Richard Salsbury As I strode past the orchard on Cornwallis Crescent I realised that the tingling in my hands and feet wasn’t going to disappear after a bit of exercise. I was on my [… read more ]
News
Community Orchards: Planting Trees and Inspirational People
Inspired by the many fabulous environmental initiatives taking place in Portsmouth, Pens of the Earth was set up to encourage writers to celebrate existing projects, and to imagine what might be. This week Helen Salsbury digs [… read more ]
Fiction
FIRE AND BLOOD
By Wendy Metcalfe This morning will be my last meeting with Arthur. Arthur isn’t a man. I’ve had enough of them to last me a lifetime. Arthur is a tree. He’s a young, slender oak, [… read more ]