Author Archives: Linda Marshall

THE NEW HOUSEKEEPER

it will not stay as it was left, the boogie-woogie of books – jazzing up the room – will fall like a ton of fiction there will be no tambourines, no clinking of love triangles, the muse will not slip … Continue reading

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THE QUIRKY COAT

It was grey flannel, plain and droopy, with drawstrings and a large untidy hood, not some zany creation sporting pistachio pockets and baroque buttons, but an everywoman’s coat that somehow caught the attention of young up-to-no-gooders, who screamed like high … Continue reading

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The funeral leaves me numb

The funeral leaves me numb (but flying cakes make me laugh) I recall the afternoon we toyed with impossibilities, joked and fantasized about a coconut slice without stabiliser, flying off the plate across the fourth floor café, hitting one of … Continue reading

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The Mask of the Harlequin

The world and its ladies of the night Stare at my lilac cheeks, The dark slits, my slanting eyes, The wig cascading over Velvet shoulders In synthetic purple whorls. The mask grins fixedly. Inside, my smile can’t grow bigger. I … Continue reading

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Frenzy Rocket Song

Come to see Drakkula! But Mamma I can’t, I’m suffering from jaundice, And I’ve bought a nuclear plant. I’m belting out volcanic punk, Spiked with grit and gore. I’m wedded hard to my guitar, And there’s dancing on the floor. … Continue reading

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Postcard to myself

Dear Linda, I’m having a fine old time in The Land of Nod – so many places to visit, mighty palaces and cathedrals, cities shrouded in mist, fortresses with zigzag castellations and rivers where the tide is forever ebbing. At … Continue reading

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Sunlit Interiors

Tiny orb of light that in my hand grows, I chide you as if you were a child, You come with lynx-and-eagle eyes To help me summer-clean my house. You burn inside my head with freezing fire, And though I … Continue reading

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