Anthology 2019

Page 192

Like Dreams or Drainpipes: A Meeting Jo Castle

They had walked for two miles to get to one second-hand shop in a village on the eastern coastline. Neither took the same journey; one approached from the north and the other from the south, and this little shop was where their paths intersected. Like many second-hand shops do, this one had its own smell. There was the smell of mothballs- a predictable note. The bookshelves at the back contributed the sweet acid of yellowing pages. In the easternmost corner hung a tatty peignoir, which dominated its section with a perfume that simultaneously suggested a light powder and a punch in the nostrils; the items of clothing hanging on the rails besides it stagnated in sadder concoctions of parted owners. Our two met over the scratchy scent of cheap lavender, where some candles still wrapped in plastic were. The meeting was delayed. She, an angular thing with long tanned legs freckled with peeling plasters, dithered over the candles momentarily as if they were things of great importance. He, a being of softer persuasion in an expensive shirt and even dearer trousers, tucked some spilling pearl necklaces back into a hefty cardboard box he carried. For a minute there was an almighty impasse, strong enough to slow a speeding locomotive, until their eyes were persuaded to disengage and look at the other. “Excuse me,” he found himself improvising- “do I… know you?” “Probably,” she said. Her gaze was flat, dreamlike. “I get that a lot.” “Do you have a name?” he asked, and then checked himself. “What’s your name?” Her eyes flickered away from him for a moment and onto the ceiling. “Marlowe.” She remembered the birth certificate she found buried in the bottom of a suitcase and for a moment felt nothing but proud. “Mine’s Heath,” he offered.

192


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Untitled

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pages 194-195

Resource for writers and teachers

7min
pages 196-204

Juliet

0
page 191

Like Dreams Or Drainpipes: A Meeting

3min
pages 192-193

The Little Mermaid

0
page 190

Librocubicularist

0
page 186

Mr Nobody

0
page 187

Blossom

1min
pages 184-185

Portrait of Nusch

2min
pages 188-189

Machine Wash Only

1min
pages 182-183

The Tunes of Life

9min
pages 178-181

Recuperations

1min
pages 176-177

Villanelle for a Dementia Patient

0
page 175

Payday

5min
pages 172-174

Two Bowls

1min
page 171

A Face and a Name

22min
pages 153-164

Back To The Pen And Paper

0
page 170

The Harpa

0
page 151

A Villanelle on Inferiority – Fool’s Gold

0
page 150

Seal-Breaker

21min
pages 137-149

Storm

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pages 135-136

The Mad Side

0
page 122

Cell 56

22min
pages 124-134

The Figurative Café

0
page 121

Gracious Tempest

0
page 116

A Day in the Life of

9min
pages 117-120

Bus Stop

0
page 115

Fake

0
page 114

Station Four

0
page 111

Another Dance Competition

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page 110

Dwarf

0
page 106

Silent City

6min
pages 107-109

Humphrey

5min
pages 101-103

Harpenden

0
pages 104-105

Mocha Afternoons

22min
pages 88-98

January II

0
page 100

Almost a Confession

0
page 85

Small

0
page 81

A Point in Time

5min
pages 82-84

Tea

21min
pages 68-79

The Skirt Sonnet

0
page 80

A Backwards Wish

0
page 67

Photograph

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page 66

The Armchair on Bradford Road

4min
pages 64-65

DNA/Making

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page 63

Forged in Fire

21min
pages 51-61

Newborn

0
page 62

Part of Your World

1min
page 50

Fear Like Waves

0
page 49

Desertium

21min
pages 40-48

Chasing the Wind

0
page 38

Van Gogh’s Cornfield*...........................1

5min
pages 36-37

Like Dreams or Drainpipes: The Funeral

4min
pages 34-35

Foxgloves

10min
pages 26-31

Packed Lunch

0
page 25

Fresh Clean Bedding

0
page 33

Shall I Compare Thee to a Cup of Tea?

0
page 24

Temptation

10min
pages 18-23

The Squid

6min
pages 12-15

Perspective

1min
page 6

Ode To The Reader

1min
page 5

Basketball in the skies

1min
page 7

Advice

0
page 16

Cygnet

1min
pages 8-9

Aubade

0
page 10
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