Delaying the Inevitable

For as long as he could remember, Paul had wanted to travel; to see new sights, to push boundaries, to explore. Don’t get me wrong, he loved his family, he liked his home, but he couldn’t help but feel there was so much more to see out there, far away across the ocean. Life can get a bit repetitive for an Adélie penguin. Waddling down to the water, having a quick snack of krill, waddling back up onto the ice floe. Day in, day out. The same routine. No surprises, no drama, no excitement. Sometimes, at night, while his friends and family were huddled together for warmth, he’d make his way up to the higher ground, and stare at the moon and Southern lights. Occasionally, he’d see shooting stars arcing silently across the sky, and he would look down at his short, stubby wings, and flap them about a bit. “If only I could fly” he thought “the things I could see, the places I could go”. Every now and then, the colony would get a visit from humans. Dressed head to toe in survival gear,...

Special Care Sam do you remember all   your time in Special Care? Would you recognise the  voices of  the nurses working there? Would  you  recognise  a   photo from  your first night in that place -  a   tiny  mass  of wires in   a   huge clear  p lastic case ? Do you have a distant  memory of   that frantic afternoon -  when  you put in an appearance nearly  fourteen weeks too soon? And  Sam do you remember when  I came to visit you?  Your  proud  but  frightened  sister I just didn’t have a clue. “When will his eyes be open?” and  “W hat’s that beeping noise ?” “When will  my baby brother get  to play with baby toys?” Sam, you won’t remember how  I thought I was to blame when  Mum and Dad were crying while  deciding on your name. They answered all my questions but...

Memory Foam Paler patches where pictures used to hang, compacted carpet, footprints slowly fade. Silence fills the rooms where once she'd sang and weeds reclaim the grass on which kids played. The mattress on the bed is memory foam - he hopes that it will still retain her form; but bricks and wood no longer make a home - this house will never get to be so warm. So here he is, he's lying on his side with arms outstretched across the empty space - he never thought the bed could feel so wide without the promise of her love's embrace. With life so short, our time ticks by so fast - how long can our impressions truly last

*POLITICAL RANT KLAXON* So, we heard today that the Crown Prosecution Service won't pursue cases against Conservative MPs accused of electoral fraud. The "accounting errors" were made by Tory HQ not individual candidates or their election agents. It's the electoral fraud equivalent of letting off two shoplifters who claimed they both thought the other one paid.  There's a fair amount of anger about it, but I think getting them on this would be like when they got Al Capone on Tax Evasion charges. I'd argue the dishonesty of these "accounting errors" pale into insignificance compared to the dishonesty of their campaign in general. Is claiming election funding was national as opposed to local as serious as any of their other false claims? Claiming to represent working Britain when only the rich are getting richer (1,2)  Claiming to represent the interests of the UK while incompetently wrecking them for short term political gain (3) ...

Ears flapping in the breeze; tongue  out, tasting the fresh air rushing through the window crack. The excitement of the journey. Don’t tell him we’re going to the vets; let  him enjoy the pure thrill of just going. Until the reality of the destination dawns. Just like growing up.

Life is a series of choices. Big ones, little ones, clear-cut ones, difficult ones, ones that creep up on you without you realizing you’re making them. We’re all constrained by a finite amount of time, money and energy, and what we choose to do with them reflects our priorities. Should I apply for that job? Should I move? Should we have kids? Should I go for a run? Should I sit on the sofa with a double pack of Jaffa cakes watching World's Scariest Police Chases? Who should I vote for? We choose our representatives in parliament, and government makes choices on our behalf. With the finite amount of money and time they have, governments’ funding and policies have to reflect their priorities. Do you, for example, prioritise a multi-billion pound nuclear missile system designed to vaporize hundreds of thousands of people in nanoseconds, or do you prioritise something less explosive like health and social care? If you lead a party, you need to convince the electorate that you...

We planted the flag, but it didn’t grow Oh no! Let’s find something different to sow We’ll pull up the drawbridge, we’ll turn off the lights We’ll round them all up and we’ll read them their rights We’ll build a huge wall, and we’ll get them to pay (But if they say no, we’ll push on anyway) We’ll strengthen the army, campaigns will be planned (For ease we’ll find foes that are closer to hand) And when that’s all done, we all should unite One country, together, to fight the good fight