The Dressing Up Box

I was looking at a meme about the idea that we are ghosts inside a meat coated skeleton, made from stardust, riding a rock whilst hurtling through space, and I thought ‘there’s a poem in there somewhere’ 🤔 So here it is. Borrowed clothes of passing time, Once formed a cobweb so sublime. Those golden

The Barbary Knife

Do not know where this poem came from. I must have been shivering me timbers off somewhere after being caught in a squall😄. I’ve never been to the Barbary coast in my life, my ancestors, a few being sailors, probably did though. I have got a fascination with the sea and ships so maybe the

The Secret Garden

Another haiku from my End of Days series. No, partygate will not be gotten rid of, forgotten nor forgiven. They partied whilst people died alone. The secret garden 24 hour party people Stage their own lock in. The threshold of No.10 where 24 hr people disappear, only to emerge as amnesiacs with peerages and promotions.

Book Review: ‘The Silent Companions‘ by Laura Purcell

The first book I have read in absolutely ages. I have made a resolution to read books which have been piling up for ages. At last I have managed to get my concentration back by reading a little per night. Before I knew it, I began to get absorbed again into the pages, just like

Ps. Pm…

Part of my series ‘End of Days’. Each new day feels like exactly that, the end of life as we once knew it. With endless atrocities deceitful lies, corruption and scandal after scandal ever unfolding, we are indeed living in dark times. So many ‘gates’ of evil opening, all leading to a desolate landscape. ‘Partygate’

Elastoplast for the Past

Slipping behind again with my blogs again. Where does the time go🤔 When I first started my blogs up, the plan was to post a few times a week. So much for plans🙄 I’d have been better off doing a diary (as I write in that every day. Anyway… here’s a short poem I wrote

Dark Queen

I wrote this poem a while ago.  I’d like to say that the inspiration fro this came from some sort of gothic queen I had been reading about, but it didn’t.  The kind of person I envisage is one who waits, listens, sees an opportunity and uses situations to their own advantage.  She sits quietly

Happy New Year!

After a fairly long hiatus, Bookstains reactivated last year. Slowly but surely, starting back in April ( no coincidence this…). Although only 18 posts (19 counting this) I remain positive, optimistic and have many ideas regarding Bookstains direction. Lots of drafts, reviews, poetry to be undertaken, including the poetry challenges which proved popular. Many of

By All These Drops

One drop for the little blonde one who calls from the depths of my blood. One drop for the Bruce’s kinsman whose gauntlet thrusts from the mud, One drop for the Finnish warrrior seeking the land of the free, One drop for  the son of Glyndwr, whose war cry vibrates throughout me. These bloods I

Chin Chinery Pokery

I’m having one of those lockdown blues days. Trying to keep myself busy by doing something creative and busy, sometimes the heavy handedness of harsh reality just seeps through, This virus has robbed me and others in the UK of two months of life – or life as we knew it.  Two months I’ll never