Stuart Miller-Osborne

I am convalescing in Tunisia After a serious accident At present I am housebound Which frustrates me a great deal But of late I have made a friend An expatriate of slender means Who told me as we sat on a terrace That he once sold Dover To a passing sea captain Who promptly lost […]

Jane and I lay behind A burning bush In the midday sun We were alone on the beach And were listening To the hollow bells Of the three churches As they followed The lengthening hours            

Dogs Only dogs will sense the apocalypse While their drunken masters Sleep soundly Let the fat people extend their lives Untainted by the influence of canine philosophers Graffiti found in a car park not far from the South Bank complex by the author in January 2018   All dogs are philosophy students You can see […]

Above his desk in the staffroom at a busy station HI Ot Toe had a poster showing James Dean with a rifle slung across his narrow shoulders The actor was adopting the pose of a crucified saint HI Ot Toe was a railwayman of fifteen years and had worked at various main line stations during […]

Diana was taking down the Christmas decorations and packing them into two cardboard boxes which she would take to the attic room which overlooked the church She stared at her tree which was dark and bare and regretted her disposal It was still raining outside so she pulled her everyday mackintosh over her shoulders and […]

Dream Dennis Dream Dennis owned a wine shop in Tunbridge Wells It had been a very hot summer and for five consecutive days the temperature topped forty-four degrees Dream Dennis and his staff spent a great deal of time in the cold room between serving customers Dream Dennis had a girlfriend named Diana Diana had […]

Devizes Road I explained to you it should not have been moved That’s how you lose things Quiet girl I moved it and let that be an end to it Ellen Dunne replaced the lid of the marmalade pot and secreted it in the small cupboard above the kitchen table I have not finished with […]

Light Green History I will keep my diary on dried bamboo slips They have no moisture It has been sweated out over friendly fires I have no reason to explain my tears     2018

The Red Apricot Li watched as a discarded cigarette carton floated past her high in the stream at the bottom of her garden As normal her husband was away His diary noted that he was at another party conference but she knew that he was probably entertaining another woman She had found messages on his […]

The Drowned Migrant When searching for gold coins on a deserted beach Maria Full of Love found the body of a drowned migrant Who had not survived the fierce winter storms She did not alert the authorities but buried the poor man where she found him So that he might spend eternity in his adopted […]