Stuart Miller-Osborne

One Cuba Betty paddled in the sea Searching for starfish But found none So she designed a railway Two Cuba Betty travelled to Scotland Hoping to witness an Egyptian mirage But saw only a Scottish one To celebrate her disappointment She purchased a blue pencil factory Three Cuba Betty lusted after her brother But he…

Eve Alone I am sitting on a rock My name is Eve You look out to sea Searching for long departed ships I think you are civilised But you are not so sure Your boldness infuriates me   Eve and the Geckos When you lay in the sun Geckos frequently run across your body To…

Fifteen years ago Johnny Masterman and Jonny Mastermen who were both the sons of World War Two Spitfire pilots were sitting outside the Café Antonia on the sea front at Deal They had ordered a pot of tea for two and two slices of chocolate cake which was brought to them by a waitress named…

Well worn each pew supports a single red candle whose flame flickers gently in the thinning air   This is the Church that corrects me    

At its height the small town of Theale in Berkshire supported some sixteen pewter factories.  As the industry declined the factories closed. Bennett’s Pewter Works were situated next to the Reading to Taunton railway line and covered an area of some five acres. The factory was closed in 1956 and its site is now covered…

Music from a Corrective Institution (One) When playing the Vienna Board in my tiny cell I think of you swimming naked in the sea From my vantage on the wooden jetty I can see the door that imprisons me   Music from a Corrective Institution (Two) When playing the Vienna Board in my tiny cell…

The minesweeper moved with difficulty through the churning black waters of the channel and was occasionally hit by rouge waves which caused the ship to shake violently Roberts looked landwards wishing that he was in a warm bed and counted the lights on the far off Kent coast Go, go south young man Away from…

The Chronicles of Anna Magdalena Bach On the 28th of June 2008 (2) Violet Few was walking through St James’s Park. She was returning home from the cinema where she had watched The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach for the third time. It was a film that she loved and when it was showing she…

Working hard in the beastmirefields Until our hands are sore and sore Filled up with the supsleepsoup My sisters return for moreandmore   This anonymous poem was found written onto the plaster of partially demolished cottage by the author’s father in 1962. The Oxfordshire cottage was known to have housed members of the Women’s Land…

As a bleakman searched for used cigarettes a nearnaked mermaid watched the river flow by and counted her many ambitions   A statue of a mermaid is situated not far from the bridge over the River Thames in Henley on Thames in Oxfordshire. The statue is called Amaryllis.