The senses have been our inspiration in writing group lately. We started with sound then moved on to taste and touch. The diversity of work generated is fantastic. Here is a small portion.



THE SILENCE

He could hear her in the bedroom
Crashing and thrashing around
Slamming drawers and doors
Stamping and cursing as she threw things
around the room
Snapping the suitcase shut
Stomping down the stairs
Slamming the door as she left
And then the silence...
The silence that seemed to echo around him
Highlighting his aloneness.



NEVER AGAIN

Hot
Spicy
Sweating
Mouth on fire
Diarrhea
Never again


- Christine Phelp



TOUCH

Is the pressure alright?

An elbow has a dull point.
It sews its way through
    the layered depths of pain,
intensity surrendering to
                a sharp ache.

Heat spreads smooth
the crocodile skin bag
of muscles long rigid
with unasked overuse.
Dull lumps soften little
to the teasing stroke
     of hands and arms
Such pressure to yield!

- Karen



MAIL SORTING CENTRE, 1990s

In the mail sorting centre
    three hundred people worked
             backdrop of humming machines
                             that sorted mail

But there was still room
For manual sorting
Boxes in front of them
Room enough for them
To talk and sort
Talk about their lives
Sweet talking
Above the humming machines

- Robert



TOUCHED BY THE DEVINE

If you wait for it
You could be waiting for a thousand years
You can't go to the divine
But the divine can get to you
Knowing the divine is not enough
He has to come to you
Waiting for a touch may never come to you
in this life
The few touched by the divine
Never got over it
To be touched by the divine
Is never easy to understand
It's a mystery that no-one will understand

- Haki Davis