Category Archives: Short Stories

Heard the distinctive peep of the Eurasian Oyster Catcher at Godrevy Point in Cornwall

This work of Poe initially seemed to be quite naive,but as it went on and the strength of the language he used and the various scenarios of fraudulent behaviour which to the modern day computer savvy  might seem ridiculously simple and then it hit me.

Poe had generated in my mind the face of “Nigel Farage”. Perhaps we’re not so sophisticated after all.

As some of you already know,

I like to listen to birds as I go,

A friendly chirp ,a flirty tweet

The noises they make are most sweet

It struck me though how we’ve lost some sound

As there were birds here that used to abound

The capercaillie you will never hear howl,

Thankfully,we still have the screech of an owl,

The Kentish Plover has now long gone,

In the late  nineteen seventies it sang it’s final

song,

The slender Billed Curlew did not survive,

Its habitat and lifestyle took a dive,

And in the decade that Tina sang minus  Ike

The Red Backed Shrike took it’s final hike.

Now as I breathe  and gently doze,

All I  hear are  cackling crows,

They’ve even learned to imitate my  car alarm

Oh my have we done nature some  harm,

The poor wryneck ,a sparrow sized woodpecker,

No longer stops to breed here though a

sometimes visitor

The conditions aren’t right to have their young,

So they  fly in and then move on ,

I started this poem when I saw a duck

They seem to thrive and  I wish them luck,

But we need such varied habitat to attract species

The  birds,once native, are  sensitive

creatures

It would strike my heart just like an arrow,

If we were to lose our humble sparrow.

And as I watch the magpie duck and dive,

A wily bird who uses humans to survive.

For is  that is our future  in this

competitive World,

An Arthur Daly type of bird.

Ah….some beautiful views and sunny weather ,hearty food made with good local ingredients and sandy beaches,long walks and all sorts of scenery and fauna to make your heart sing.A great holiday you would think?

Reality is it certainly is not perfect.

Nearly had my dogs paws lacerated by glass outside the Penzance Lido wall, couldn’t believe how close we were to having what would have been a disaster for us and our dog.It was clear glass too.

I screamed at my partner  to come to a  halt just in time.Someone had obviously swept the glass  into the side.

Dogs sniff and follow other dogs smells against  walls,so shame when the breakage happened ,someone didn’t make the effort to   clear it up and not just leave it.

Then the likelihood,it was someone on alcohol or drugs that had left it there. And there’s the rub, alcohol and drugs, they are wreaking havoc on our society and it’s the young and disenfranchised that turn to them, because their life just isn’t giving them what they need.Perhaps it never will?

Another incident, a young man,high on alcohol and marijuana launched himself across the road out of a beer garden and nearly poked my partner in the eye with the reefer he was holding in his hand.

“Sorry Man” as he turned around and proceeded shouting at his friends on an outside table,that he was going to the Watering Hole for the music and he would see them up there.

It was then his girlfriend appeared and bumped into me, but she was annoyed and just kept going to follow her errant boyfriend.

Finally, a campervan in the Car Park at Perranporth as we returned to our car was all set up , with two girls in it.

I was greeted by a big smiley face and a hello from one of the girls, she was pretty high and I smiled and said hello. I thought that’s not the normal grouchy look you get from people in a  car park who are upset because you got the last spot in the shade. Still it was very pleasant and she seemed nice.

I proviso my thought though with the fact that she was probably dealing drugs and she thought I was walking towards her to make a purchase,not just return to my car.She circled around for a while and then got back into the Campervan and sat totally out of it with the other girl, heaven knows who was driving.

And there’s the rub, here I am loving the fresh air, the sea,the sand and all the weather and scenery has to offer.Meanwhile these young people’s lives are being defined by bad choices and misguided values which lead them to think that to be “out of life” is far more exciting to be “in life”.

I hope the light one day will come through.