Catching Up

“Catching Up” is a collection of poems which contemplate a range of concerns; time and space, the hidden meanings in stories, meditations on war and the legacy of our environmental sins.

Hell’s Chimney

A fantasy that begins with Toby in a dungeon, due to be executed for murdering his father, the king. His escape results in a hue and cry, instigated by his stepmother, the Queen. Toby must be caught and executed along with any who assist him.

While on the run, he rescues a peasant, Far, and an aristocratic young woman, Orly, both of whom have had their families slaughtered. Class and passion complicate their relationship as they struggle to escape the marauding soldiers. Exhausted and battered, they find sanctuary in the cavern of a magician. There, Toby is told he must go down to the Underworld, via Hell’s Chimney, to find the truth of his father’s death.

The Prince’s Shadow

Cadd thinks he’ll spend his life working in the family bakery. Then the King’s soldiers come. The ancient Court Sorceress has foretold that he will escape the siege that tortures their town. Instead, he is captured by the enemy.

A lucky accident saves him from death and sends him on a perilous mission. Plunged into an unfamiliar world, he needs all his resources and the love of a Princess to survive. But that love is based on a lie.

Strikers of Hanbury Street, and other East End Tales

Two Jewish boys picket a mean neighbour to get their ball back; a Bangladeshi man is desperate for a business plan; a black woman is fearful she will lose her job when she loses her childminder; a boy and girl-next-door find love in an air-raid; a middle class woman goes back to the council estate of her childhood; a racist youth and a black boatman are stranded on an island; the mother of a criminal family pins all her hopes on her youngest son.

These simply told tales of East End life speak of pain and despair, survival and hope.