It’s been a while. I used to write – it was my therapy, my method of connecting with UK folk whilst living in Switzerland and my way of finding fulfilment away from being a mum to two young kids. Much has happened since then. A new relationship and even a new kid. I’ve still written, […]
Author: Jane Prinsep
Jane Prinsep is a freelance writer living in Suffolk, UK. She writes about family, relationship and parenting issues, also comedy, fiction and poetry. Her website can be found at www.splinteredreflections.com. Here you can read her blog and also listen to her renowned interview "Why Not Me?" with Karl James of The Dialogue Project on the difficult subject of surviving rape. You can follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/janeprinsep.
The Absence of Good
A brief respite from burning August heatThe freezer-section of the supermarketI consult my list as my children weaveIn and out, in and out, around my feet Out of control, they giggle and squealHigh on life, energised by E-numbersI focus on the four things I must findApples, yoghurt, bread and wine Then I see you shuffling […]
Crocodiles & Monsters
Originally written 27 January 2010) The little beach at Villeneuve is a shallow-sloping, pebbly crescent, fringed with weeping willows and embracing the now-glittering warm waters of Lac Leman. Away from the lapping shoreline, a low wall separates the public path from the beach, as if gently segregating those who are in mellow-mode, happy to wallow […]
Rose-tinted Dreams
Last night, amid the evilYou unexpectedly held my faceAnd said those thingsYou used to sayAnd I rememberedThat cherished feeling And I woke up chokingWith griefAs if it was yesterday You were larger than lifeSuffocating me with joyDwelling on the bright sideNever truly understandingThe darkness I was in You held out your armsAnd tried with all […]
Flash Fiction: Completion
She sat beneath angered clouds, bleached by the tropical storm’s pulsing heartbeat. Bubbling saltwater, thickening with sand, drenched her burnt skin; white light finally overpowering midnight. “If it rises again,” she affirmed, her heart whole, “I’m ready to be swallowed.” “I’ve lived.”
Flash Fiction: 30 Seconds
The first blue skies in weeks. I grip the wheel, finger-tap to The Horrors, check the mirror, smile occasionally into my boyfriend’s eyes. Then… I see you in the distance. At first, I can’t work it out. The movements are all wrong. You’ve come to a standstill, sideways across the carriageway. The concave remains of […]
Seeing It From Above
On a plane again; alone.Through torn openings inSunlit, cotton-wool cloudsI spy populated clusters;Pockets of life, teemingWith questions, arguments,Heartaches, that matchEven overpower, mine.The universe presentsThe bigger pictureIt’s so easy to remainWithin my own parameters.But I won’t, I will choose to seeThat there will be joy again.Some time awayIt waits, for me alone.Yes, I will love again.
Beautiful Life
I’ve been stripped once moreBack to basicsBut beauty in lifeIt overwhelms me I watch as men climbOn steel structuresCutting themselvesDirt under fingernails They are creatingThey have visionI photograph itAs I travel through life Strangers look at meQuestioningly, as I click awayClick, click, click…But I’m not the mad one I have learned againThat to create, to […]
A Wishful Ending
Unseasonal cold air is blowing in I welcome it gladly I beckon it to caress my skin Just so I can feel… anything. If I had the energy I’d walk from my front door Across the green, through the estate And leave the rabble behind I’d walk and walk until my ears Could only distinguish […]
A Time of Darkness
Head balanced on handsStaring mutely at wood grainCounting lines, comparing knotsMy head motionless, eyes darting Lines and knots developInto expressive imaginary facesWelcome company at our oak tableAfter three months and six days of solitude A rare phone call passes in a blurAn awkward friend stammers her apologyA million reasons for her absenceHer neatly-transferred guilt engulfs […]
Raging Zoo by Jane Prinsep 