“Smoke and Mirrors” is a collection of short stories by the author of “American Gods” (and other great novels) Neil Gaiman. Some of these short works are poems, others the more regular prose, some are creepy, some are quirky, all of them make great reading. I am going to review four of the stories that…
When you wish upon a starNothing will happenHow’s a flaming ball of gasBillions of light years awayGoing to give you what you wantBlow out the candlesToss a coin in a fountainIt’s all just as futileSuperstition and fantasy Wish insteadWhat can be achievedWhat future you can createYour hopes and dreamsAre in your handsYou are the architectOf…
You never wanted to be a wife, a mother You rejected being a lady (just an idea invented by men) You never could work out What you wanted instead But who cares about that Goals are overrated anyway Be the one who isn’t normal Whatever normal may be Embrace your otherness Be the alien in…
I’m afraid the test was positive, says the doctor sombrely Oh, I respond, emotionless Feeling will come later, it’s always my way Delayed reactions to bad news What now? We discuss treatment Things to do, people to see all very civilized And that is all I go home And wonder when the dam will burst…
I am the voice of well-wishersFamily, lovers, friendsI am the cheery smilesThe sentimental poemsThe bad age-related punsI am your happy birthdayYour merry ChristmasYour milestones and your new lifeYour just-married and your deepest sympathyYour friend, thinking of you, just because … I speak the days of your lifeMeasured out in occasion and eventI am a songI…
I do not understand Nor am I understood I stand alone in a crowd Of alien faces spouting gibberish While my marble exterior is carved With glyphs no one can comprehend The city grows around me But they don’t know my message I have watched them grow But I don’t know their purpose We confront…
‘Peanuts’ is probably one of, if not the most famous comic strip in the world. Running for a whopping fifty years (1950-2000), it was written and illustrated by Charles M Schultz. According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanuts), ‘Peanuts’ was a title foisted upon Schultz and he hated it, declaring it made no sense. Maybe not, but it…
The smiling shower curtain dolphin looked me up and down ‘You fat,’ it said ‘Yeah? Well, you flat,’ I retorted The shower curtain dolphin sniggered with its shower curtain dolphin friends They then proceeded to eat the shower curtain fish and swam off the shower curtain Leaving the brightly coloured coral Which promptly experienced a…
“Death Masks” is the fifth in the Dresden Files, a series of books written by Jim Butcher that follow the character Harry Dresden, a wizard living in modern-day Chicago. The books follow a fantastical world that exists alongside the normal world, with magic, a wizard council, vampires, werewolves, demons and all the usual magical creatures.…
Wake up in the middle of the night Need to go to the bathroom So up I get, one step, and then Squish Oh god what have I stepped in? Hop hobble to the bathroom, light on And see what’s what Wash my foot in disgust Back to the bedroom, light on Survey the furball…
Eclectic Assemblage 