Do we live in a ‘culture of complaint’, as one art critic suggests,. Willing at the drop of a hat to make mention of the smallest detail that doesn’t suit us? Maybe if you buy a big ticket item or you book seat X at a concert and get seat Y then a complaint is [...]

The only thing you want is for the pain to stop. Inside one of those enamelled lumps there’s a hole or a gap that needs to be dealt with. There seems to be a road crew in there , pneumatic drills are tapping right on the root of the nerve OUCH!. A thousand Enola Gays [...]

Afternoons in the back yard in white cricket  pants. The ball coming in at reckless speed while over head the sun beat down  with the force of kick drum at a rock concert, drilling into our heads, our backs, our necks and our arms – but we didn’t care – yes we could get sunburn [...]

I’m stuck up here on the roof week after week. Does anybody really notice me? I’m here on guard duty, my nose sticking out further than Pinnocio, waiting for that merest sniff of charred air. If you burn the toast or leave the roast too long, then I will send a warning. I’ll be completely [...]

The policy number reads in a string of gibberish Greek on the right hand side. It comes with an accompanying booklet that has consumed a small forest on the outside of town. I am never going to read all that stuff, but they insist on sending it along in case I choose to sue I [...]

Just like Sunday                    © Paul J Penton March 2009    Lately he’s been dreamin’ about how its gonna be Sometime in the future there’s a place down by the sea Fishing’ off the pier, – with his new grandson Been saving every dollar,  to realise his dream   Been Working at the factory since he [...]

Another Perfect Morning © 2009 P J PENTON Another Perfect Morning-Update 15 July> Lyrics – Autumn mornings start to bite got to pull those covers tight it’s really been a chilly night gonna bring you in even closer – shadows seem to stretch to noon right through the afternoon got to get to work real [...]

Bargain collectors corner, the owner is standing outside making a chimney of himself before the real trade starts to come through. There’s all manner of goods stacked on the footpath, those big clear plastic stacking boxes, kids hand-held windmills, clothing apparel all bundled out on the footpath. Inside, the shop is stacked from floor to [...]

It had to be a well planned operation, somehow he had to get back in the side window without making too much noise. He definitely did not want his parents hearing him, because as far as they were concerned he would be asleep in there already. Somewhere between the news and the next round of [...]

I wonder what he thinks As I sit here and confess And my sins drape over the man of cloth Will my guilt be silent at last I was acting like it was my younger days She was like a flame that held my steady gaze we ground away like a sack of empty skin [...]