Write about movement. Sit and watch the world go by. Notice the differences between land and water and sky. If you don’t have a quay, a jetty will do, or a harbour, or a river bank. Tell the story of a character who transforms when they move from one element to the other and how this transformation impacts on their life, their relationships, and their daily routines.

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The open river – wide with the pucker

of a dead manś lips, I travel its veins

on my raft of frozen ice.

Beneath I find hands shaped like shadows,

grasping at me, calling my name in disfigured

fingers pounding against the layer of glass

that separates us.

If only my own hands could meet the fingertips

of the helpless; if my hands could withstand the cold

that vices my heart in a tiresome grip.

My ship of certainty has crumbled, broken bare by the rapids

of the river I wanted to sail.

Is this what the water feels? Water that is running so fast

tripping over rocks and gliding over fish

much too fast

much too fast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For a man that grew up around people, Robert felt terribly alone.

 

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