Poetry Thursday 155 - Twilight Zone

 As I age, I see a difference in the way people look at you and treat you. I'm not talking 'with respect' or 'contempt' it is actually closer to suspicion. They seem to be suspicious that you are going to do or say something that will require support. 

The Twilight Zone

 

Used to be tales of mystery and imagination,

 designed to thrill causing the heart to flutter,

now it’s more about causes for exclusion,

and hazards making steps that stutter.

 

Disturbing bumps in the night,

inexplicable sounds cutting through sleep,

another reason to turn on the light, 

watching the hands of the clock creep.

 

Hardly surprising when you don’t work anymore,

that sleep is no longer a priority,

  need other purposes to dip into the energy store,

while searching for life's clarity.

 

Seems sleeping light encourages dreaming,

strange dreams of people and past,

the brain not just reflecting life and living,

creating new visions on which nothing to hang fast.

 

So having moved from working situation,

to a grey transitional state,

partly evidenced by friend and relation,

we are now in some place to wait.

©David L Atkinson July 2026 

God Bless 

Writing - Special Events

 When we're writing stories, quite often it can be more interesting for our readers to attach the events of a story to a specific date or a series of dates. For example, yesterday was Father’s Day, which could be a key data set off with a particular tale about fathers' relationships etc.

Today, June 22, is a special day because it is Windrush Day, which commemorates the British Caribbean community, as well as World Rainforest Day, which highlights the importance of protecting tropical ecosystems. 

I have just finished a short story based in Moscow on May 9th, which is their Victory Day, and provided targets for assassination!

Somehow I missed this beauty below!

It is also National Chocolate Éclairs Day and National Onion Rings Day.  The mind boggles. However, each of these special days offers a myriad of opportunities to entertain our readers, although at the moment I can’t think of anything to do with onion rings that would make a good story.

It may be that one of these days is particularly relevant for you. Why not make the end of the story as enjoyable for you as it is for your readers? We all deserve some pleasure, even in the production of the work, not just in the number of sales it brings. 

God Bless 

Poetry Thursday 135 - Doomsday Clock

 The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists changed its format from a newsletter to a magazine. Its first cover features a clock, both conceptualized and designed by artist Martyl Langsdorf. The Clock’s hands move based upon whether events push humanity closer to or further from nuclear apocalypse. The Clock later includes dangers posed by climate change and other existential threats. 

Doomsday Clock 

It's Ticking

 

Turned on in 47.

an indicator pointing at heaven,

the method as yet unidentified,

of how the world will be transmogrified.

 

53 - first turn of the spring by hydrogen,

to return Earth to molten origin,

  63 - Cuban crisis intensifies the race,

Test Ban treaty slows the pace.

12 minutes

 

72 – Russia and USA sign SALT,

 if anyone shoots it will be their fault,

80 – SALT fails, more states connect,

resources and crises collect.

7 minutes

 

81 – Russia invades Afghanistan,

Reagan refuses to be anchorman,

84 – communications cease,

US want a space system centrepiece,

3 minutes

 

90 – actions make peace more certain,

down comes the Iron Curtain,

Cold War finally over,

Does it mean we’re all in clover.

17 minutes

95 – only five years and a close call,

Russia no lambs replacing USSR’s fall,

Failure to control nuclear a shame,

India and Pakistan joins the game.

9 minutes

 

02 – terrorists stir the worries pot,

new weapons give even more a shot,

07 – N Korea on the rise,

conducts nuclear tests – no surprise.

5 minutes

 

10 – climate change joins the equation,

main actors want further action,

pointing towards no nuclear bombs,

the climate leading modern psalms.

6 minutes

 

15 – no new forwards steps,

some denying of climate concepts,

leading to more significant threats,

pointing disaster at all our doorsteps.

3 minutes

 

18 – social media is in the frame,

communication available to every name,

introduces an instrument to everyone,

leadership pressure can be built upon.

2 minutes

 

20 – humanity faces nuclear war and climate change,

information wars affect the range,

national relations is becoming more aggressive,

self-aggrandisement of leaders increasingly obsessive.

85 seconds – 2026

©David L Atkinson March 2026 

God Bless 

Writing - Journey Through Time

 I was directed towards a podcast last week that I found interesting and scary.

Christmas Carol 

One of my favourite books was written by Dickens in 1843. Quite often, Dickens and this story are attributed with the rebooting of Christmas. In 1843, the day wasn't even a public holiday, added to which Dickens was in dire financial straits, as was his publisher. He wrote A Christmas Carol in six weeks and spared no expense in producing it as a quality piece of work. It was very successful, but as a result of his expensive presentation, Dickens only made a relatively small profit. However, it was a success and re-established his popularity. 

The timbre of the book is both emotional and socially aware. Dickens weaves many aspects of the life of the poor into the story, and it generated a sense of guilt in some measure that caused a better attitude towards fellow humans. The Poor Law was introduced a couple of years earlier than this book, and it established institutions such as the workhouses, but the overall attitude was that of Scrooge when he asked, '... are there no workhouses, debtors prisons ...' In fact, those institutions were run as a punishment for people daring to be poor. The poor were seen as a different species. 

The scary part is that here we are 180 years later, and there is a similar attitude towards the less well off when, in fact, they are in that situation, in many cases, because of poor wages, expensive housing, and the lack of affordability of the things we need just to keep going. Those prices are out of the reach of ordinary people because capitalists are trying to maintain exorbitant profit margins and unrealistic dividends for shareholders. 

The question is, where is the author who will write a 21st century story that will rekindle the levels of human kindness necessary to maintain a fair society? 

If you wish to sample the podcast, it is on Spotify and called 'Journey Through History' and the producers are David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell, episodes 59 - 61. Well worth a listen.

God Bless 

Writing - Nutty Slack

 The opposite of anthracite, or steam coal, but the basic form of 'king coal'. A mineral that rightly attained the regal title, and I will explain from a personal perspective. 

In the beginning, my father spent the majority of his working life tending to the extraction of the mineral. He maintained and serviced the mechanical equipment below ground. In fact, he had three brothers who worked the mines. 

Consider everyday life. We lived in houses that were heated by coal, and that had cooking ovens built into a range that depended on burning coal. So far, the household income, source of heating, and cooking are all reliant on coal. 

Even the design of the house is adjusted to accommodate coal. 

There were two coal fires downstairs in our two-bedroomed home. One of those was in the kitchen and included the aforementioned oven and a water boiler. The other in the sitting room. There was no central heating. More significantly, there was the coal house. My dad's wage included a coal allowance. 

The coal allowance was 20cwt of coal, about once every month to six weeks. It was delivered by a man with a wagon and bags of coal that he carried on his back and tipped in the yard outside the coalhouse. 1cwt in each sack. He would tip one or two bags into the coal house, and the rest would be tipped in the yard for Dad to shovel home. When I was old enough, I 'helped'. 

Holidays were dictated by the coal board because, apart from bank holidays, everyone had the same two weeks off in the summer. So life was controlled by coal. 

God Bless 

 

 

Poetry Thursday 121 - Octocentenary Apathy

 I am fairly certain that I've written about apathy in the past, but if the almost annual trip down this particular lane wakes up one individual to the truth about the way ordinary people are treated. It will be worthwhile. This raises its head because of the novel experience of Americans over the last ten months or so, and that influence on politics in other countries, including the UK. 

Octocentenary Apathy  

 

I can’t be bothered,  

I’ve too much to do,  

it'll make me too stressed,  

why don’t you?  

 

I’ll do it tomorrow,  

I’m busy today,  

it's too hard to follow,  

there's absolutely no way.  

 

It won’t make a difference,  

you won’t like the outcome,  

I’ll keep my independence,  

do it yourself chum.  

 

It’s a waste of time anyway,  

one vote doesn’t count,  

they don’t care what I say,  

close enough for a recount.  

©David L Atkinson December 2025  

Of course, I am referring to 1215 when the Magna Carta was signed by King John. The feeding frenzy of some misguided people attribute that document as the beginning of democracy. I believe that people are closing their eyes to the truth of that document. I concede that it may have opened the door to democracy, but there is a world of difference between the styles of democracy that exist across the world. The two-party system that we exist under, along with one or two other countries, is frighteningly close to what life was like in the 13th century. 

The document was introduced to take power from the king and give it to the nobles. A simplification. It was never intended to add protection to ordinary people, but only to provide protection if you were a landowner. It provided no facility to serfs or women to be protected from the misuse of laws, etc. 

The frightening thing is that, in 2025, the extreme right-wing groups across the world are cheerfully trying to remove human rights and protections from ordinary working people. These right-wing groups are sponsored and supported by the super-rich, the nobles of 1215, and they have zero regard for the needs of the people. This has occurred and is compounded by apathetic people. 

Remember the quote, 

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

God Bless