Writer, researcher, music lover, cancer survivor with CMMRD ("double" Lynch syndrome)
My poem Twitch is out today in Thimble Literary Magazine! I wrote it a little after my hysterectomy in October. You can read it here, along with some other great poems (I particularly like “Cancer Lyric V”):
https://www.thimblelitmag.com/2019/03/16/twitch/
Hello! Life is really nice right now. I’ve started back at work part-time and I’m enjoying it. The dress code changed so we can wear casual clothes. I’m looking forward to a couple of weekend trips away with my boyfriend. I’m thinking about doing a PhD. I was anxious last week because I had a phone call on Tuesday asking me to go in for my annual flexi sig on Friday and that was like, no time at all to get used to the idea. But I went and they said my internal pouch is healthy. There’s nothing like that kind of relief.
It is with sadness that we are announcing the closure of The Creative Truth literary magazine. Due to a lack of submissions (and also a lack of relevant submissions that were in fact nonfiction prose), we are now closed for submissions permanently.
The magazines will still be available to buy on Lulu.com. Our parent magazine, Peeking Cat Poetry Magazine, is still open and going strong, so head there if you enjoy reading or writing poetry and short fiction.
Thank you for your support during the three years or so that we have been running. We wish all of our contributors continued success, and our readers continued enjoyment of all the wonderful prose the literary world has to offer.
Round glasses, pink with colourful splotches. Mustard tie, grey cardigan buttoned up and restricting. Green and pink satchel with yellow clasps that click closed in that satisfying way. First day of school picture on the patio in the garden. Faded hopscotch. Curls tied up in a ponytail. Pleated skirt. Shiny black shoes. Fluttering stomach. Feeling of dread. Long walk to school.
My new short non-fiction (ish) piece, Daydreams of Doing, has been published in Potato Soup Journal! One day a few weeks ago, I wanted to try writing some new fiction and epically failed. This is what came out instead.
I’ve had a poem published in Amaryllis Poetry today! It’s called Seventy-nine and you can read it here.
I feel old
and torn apart
tired and torn apart
torn and tired apart
I tried living
alongside moths
brightside moths
they tell me to
always look on
the bright side too
but the chipper
clip of their wings
gets in my face
they always fly
towards the face
I was the patient
making the anaesthetists
laugh before we went
into the operating theatre
and I still am
but I have a library full
of memories now
and all the books
have been checked out
by me
I open one
and a brightside moth
lands on the middle pages
I slam it shut
the wings stop flapping
there is still no peace
I have been looking for books and things about dealing with cancer as a traumatic experience, and I’ve found more things talking about cancer being caused by stress than about it being a cause of stress. No wonder I used to try to figure out whether I officially had PTSD – some sort of validation on emotional issues would be nice.
Right now I am continually amazed at how far I have come. For example, I am currently drinking Diet Coke. From a can, without waiting for it to go flat or anything. Do you know how annoying it was not to be able to drink Coke for weeks? I was worried I might not be able to enjoy it ever again. God, I love Coke.
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