We’re in the middle of a cold snap in Scotland, as you might be able to tell…
Caster
Caster dusting on
Bin lid and bough, sill and stoop.
Open, winter skies.
Continue reading “Caster and Creak | Haiku”Caster and Creak | Haiku
Author: Matthew J. Richardson
Stories in Golddust Magazine, Literally Stories, Idle Ink, Writer's Egg, CafeLit, McStorytellers, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Flashback Fiction, Down in the Dirt, Close to the Bone, Shooter, Soft Cartel, Fiction Junkies, and Heavenly Flower Publishing
Planet 4662/1183J/983!/11C | Short Story
RECONNAISANCE REPORT – URGENT STOP
PLANET 4662/1183J/983!/11C STOP
FOR IMMEDIATE ONWARDS TRANSMISSION TO TRANSGALACTIC ANALYSIS CENTRE STOP
FAO ADMIRAL PEATY STOP
MA’AM STOP
AT THE MEDIAN LARGE SENSOR ARRAY YESTERDAY 2526HRS A NOTABLE OBSERVATION WAS MADE STOP
AS PER PROTOCOL WE ARE NOTIFYING YOU AS THE OBSERVED OBJECT AND PHENOMENA MEET THE CRITERIA FOR IMMEDIATE FLAGGING MEMO 62 V.3 REFERS STOP
Continue reading “Planet 4662/1183J/983!/11C | Short Story”Sleeping and Soft | Haiku
We’re through the darkness and into the dawn with a couple of haiku today…
Sleeping
Night thrown long, over
Sleeping byre, over quiet moor,
Over windswept swell.
Soft
Soft shift of embers.
Fragile whites, glowing ruby,
Fading in the dawn.
Continue reading “Sleeping and Soft | Haiku”Loch Ness Monster, Stamped Long | Poetry
Loch Ness Monster, stamped long
Across a once-round coin.
A penny,
Pressed into nothing,
Into something more than money.
What route to the heavy, glass-bound rollers?
Which grasping hands, dark pockets, upholstery crevices before
Arriving iron-smelling, earth-born, newly pressed again?
How many through my own fingers
From museums and galleries,
Raucous funfairs and till-chimed gift shops?
Lost, slipped behind dust-bound bookshelves
Or down churning gutters beneath rumbling, work-bound feet.
That fate perhaps,
But for now a clammy, toddler’s hand
An o-shaped mouth,
A treasure, gleaming gold.
Continue reading “Loch Ness Monster, Stamped Long | Poetry”Cleanliness is Next… | Short Story
Cupboards first.
Tins, jars, those broken strands of pasta that seem to get everywhere, the boxes of cereal with not even a quarter bowl left in them, all out onto the sideboard. Then a sponge and hot soapy water right innnn-to the crevices, into the hinges, across the front of the doors. Malcolm always likes the place gleaming.
Drawers next, and the follies of years past – pasta measurers, spiralizers – are laid out in the sink for all to see. The evidence of poor decisions made, of a lifestyle sought but never obtained.
Continue reading “Cleanliness is Next… | Short Story”Mud and More | Haiku
A couple of hiking haiku today…
Mud
Mud around the legs
Of the foot-worn, wind-weathered
Stile. A way across.
Continue reading “Mud and More | Haiku”We, the Dead | Short Story
We, the dead, make a stand.
Standards are standards; they do not distinguish between the quick and the buried – we all must tend our patch.
Our churchyard caters for a certain vintage of clientele. We have all been present and correct for some time – most of our headstones are stacked alongside our graves or against weathered tombs. Too many storms and too much Scottish rain has seen the local authority deem our slabs unsafe.
Continue reading “We, the Dead | Short Story”Creep and Curl | Haiku
Morning folks,
It’s been wild, wet, and windy here in Scotland, where Autumn has made itself known this week. Hopefully these are a couple of haiku to speak to this…
Creep
Breached riverbanks. Creep
Of foam-swirled menace towards
Sandbag-stacked doorframes.
Curl
Weather turning. An
Edged wind, the first curling of
Leaves once lush, once lithe.
*Thanks for reading, folks. Images courtesy of Ian S and Pixabay. My recent short stories include ‘Little Daily Miracles‘ and ‘Those Abroad‘.
Matthew Richardson is a writer of short stories. His work has featured in Gold Dust magazine, Literally Stories, Close to the Bone, McStorytellers, Penny Shorts, Soft Cartel, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Flashback Fiction, Cafelit, Best MicroFiction 2021, Writer’s Egg, Idle Ink, The Wild Word, and Shooter magazine. He is a doctoral student at the University of Dundee, a lucky husband, and a proud father. He blogs at www.matthewjrichardson.com and tweets at https://twitter.com/mjrichardso0.
Project Update | Update
It’s been a while since I gave an update on how my Professional Doctorate is coming along. My research examines how Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers experience the criminal justice system, and how agencies can change their service provision to better suit their needs.
After gathering information from the perspectives of service providers and publishing a paper based upon these findings, over the last few months I have been gathering the really insightful data – what Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers think, and whether what is framed as innovative practice really meets their needs.
Continue reading “Project Update | Update”Cobble and Cloud | Haiku
Autumn has arrived in Scotland this week with the coming of Storm Agnes. I have a couple of thematic haiku, although we’re not quite in frosty territory just yet…
Cobble
Ribbons of coal smoke
Low over cobbled closes,
Under icy eaves.
Read more: Cobble and Cloud | Haiku
Cloud
Gutters brim-full with
Birds’ nests and leaves, moss and mulch.
Bruised clouds overhead.
*Thanks for reading, folks. Images courtesy of Brock Roseberry and Alan Devine. My recent short stories include ‘Little Daily Miracles‘ and ‘Those Abroad‘.
Matthew Richardson is a writer of short stories. His work has featured in Gold Dust magazine, Literally Stories, Close to the Bone, McStorytellers, Penny Shorts, Soft Cartel, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Flashback Fiction, Cafelit, Best MicroFiction 2021, Writer’s Egg, Idle Ink, The Wild Word, and Shooter magazine. He is a doctoral student at the University of Dundee, a lucky husband, and a proud father. He blogs at www.matthewjrichardson.com and tweets at https://twitter.com/mjrichardso0.
Matthew Richardson 