Jasmine is here

A sunny trellis

Jasmine in the afternoon

The fragrance

--

S.M. 

"Progress" - old shop/new shop. Does London still exist?

This is what became of the Kingsland Cafe in the KIngsland Rd, as depicted by @eleanor_crow https://t.co/yTcQCQko5R pic.twitter.com/CbnKV18PJW

— Spitalfields Life (@thegentleauthor) May 17, 2020

Luka Bloom at the Aloe Tree, 22 March 2020

Perfect lockdown session in a gorgeous empty shop in Ennistimon, County Clare. "Don't be so hard on yourself."

Short Story of the Month, May 2020

Looking for respite from the lockdown?

You’ve come to the right place.

Ed.The Willesden Herald New Short Stories Story of the Month
May 2020: The Time Capsule by John O’Donoghue

“They all fell silent for a moment. I could see them trying to look into the future, to imagine themselves as adults, married maybe, perhaps with families of their own, working away in jobs like Uncle Tommy in the Post Office, or Auntie Lizzie in the nursing before she was married, or gone to England, like my mother and father, or even further afield.”

John O'Donoghue

John O’Donoghue is the author of Letter To Lord Rochester (Waterloo Press, 2004), The Beach Generation (Pighog Press, 2007), Brunch Poems (Waterloo Press, 2009), Sectioned: A Life Interrupted (John Murray, 2009), Fools & Mad (Waterloo Press, 2014), and The King From Over the Water (The Wild Geese Press, 2019). Sec­tioned was awarded Mind Book of the Year in 2010. His journalism, essays, and reviews have been published in The Observer, The Guardian, The Times Educational Supplement, The London Magazine, PN Review, Acumen, and Orbis. He lives in Brighton and teaches Creative Writing at the Brighton Writers’ Centre.

The Time Capsule comes from The King from Over The Water (The Wild Geese Press, 2019).

Who’s Afraid of the Cold East Wind?

Herb Robert trembles,
not because the wind is strong
but because it's crazy.

Dandelion has wet himself
but won't let it get him down,
he's been through worse.

Rosemary doesn't know where to look,
it's all a bit of a mystery,
why do they bother?

Violet doesn't know why.
Poppy says don't be afraid.
Veronica says you should.

April shivers, a beast
has walked over her grave,
she hides in the chestnut tree.

Primrose lies low.
She sighs, she hopes
that May may come, come May.

--
Stephen Moran

Story of the Month Submissions: Open

Partly as a response to and respite from the 2020 Coronavirus lockdown blues, we've opened up the Story of the Month submssions window again. It would be great to hear from writers who have not been featured before in this online series.

Stories previously published in print but not online will be considered. Please advise details so that acknowledgement of the original publication can be included.

There's a rolling deadline of the second-last Friday of every month but often select the featured short story before then.

There is no reading fee. Recompense is limited to one copy of our latest anthology. Copyright: apart from permission to display it on our website online, you retain all rights in your story.

For full details please visit our Our Submittable page.

Northwick Park Hospital update from local MP - Covid-19

523 people hospitalised with #Covid_19 at Northwick Park (& sister trusts) have been discharged since March 4th. Tragically 364 people have died there. 250 people still being treated as of yesterday. I can only begin to imagine the sense of loss (1/2) https://t.co/Zy2nAFHff1

— Gareth Thomas MP (@GarethThomasMP) April 18, 2020

Source Ref. MyLondon.news