July 4 2003 Carshalton. Green puddles of hard plastic are welded to the pavement. A number of wheelie bins have been torched outside the flats. One of them appears to have melted completely. A toxic stench permeates the scruffy forecourt, but the birds still sing and a crow hops up and down among scraps of … Continue reading Notes From a Fragile Island…27
24.01.22 Joe K from the old days turns up and I can't help but wonder how I'd never noticed that his name has an echo of Kafka about it - which is interesting to me now as he rolls up his trouser leg to show an electronic tag attached there. He says he's mystified as … Continue reading dream diaries…110
October 10 2004 Croydon Blue. Click clack click clack. Footsteps behind me. A wonderful, feminine clatter spills across the concrete and glass and Saint George's applauds and so do the pigeons and so do I. The arcade, everything, is suddenly charged: electric. I fall into a stroll and her footsteps fall in beside me. Fingers … Continue reading Notes From a Fragile Island. 24
July 9 2015 (Croydon) It is warm. Queen's Garden is busy with other lunch timers. Wander around with a sandwich, a book and a small water looking for somewhere comfortable to sit. Settle on the grass bank near the subway, in the shade shaped like railings. Eat sandwich, but my heart isn't in it. Ditto … Continue reading Notes From a Fragile Island 23
March 23 2018 (Tynemouth) 11am. With a free day I head to Tynemouth to join the so-called Breakfast Clubbers - John E, Phil M, Stephanie P and Vicky G at Porters on the metro platform. I have a pot of tea and two rounds of toast and marmalade. The BC have been here since 9am … Continue reading Notes From a Fragile Island. 18
February 12th 2019 (East Surrey) The hospital is vast, busy. Following the blue line on the floor I arrive at the Post-Stroke ward. The ward is made up of 12 beds. The nurse points out dad's bed. The last on the left, by the window. He is partially hidden by a screen; a bony foot … Continue reading Notes From a Fragile Island. 15
nickreeves 