The Leaving of Ballymun

This is a lyric video of a humorous parody and the words are included in the description on YouTube. You can see them in a recent post on this blog as well.

Short Story of the Month, May 2023

Intriguing. You might find yourself wondering what exactly happened in this short story. Don't look at me. (Ed.)

The Willesden Herald Story of the Month

May 2023: Against the Grain by Anita Goveas

“She expects to get caught and almost confesses every Friday. But if there’s anything her father talks about, it’s tradition and family and maybe the way he sustains that is by only looking at what he wants to see.”

Anita Goveas is British-Asian, London-based, and fuelled by strong coffee and paneer jalfrezi. She was first published in the 2016 London Short Story Prize anthology, most recently by the Cincinnati Review. She’s on the editorial team at Flashback Fiction, and is a submissions reader for The Selkie. She tweets erratically @coffeeandpaneer. Her debut flash collection, ‘Families and other natural disasters’, is available from Reflex Press, and links to her stories are at https://coffeeandpaneer.wordpress.com

Zadie Smith – Tufton Street – More Evil Than Climate Denial

21 April 2023: Zadie Smith addresses a climate crisis demo in Tufton Street. A closely reasoned speech, touching on the thought processes of people in denial compared to those of people who know exactly what they're doing. People in denial must recognise the horror of what they deny, or they wouldn't be moved to deny it. Others, she argues, such as Tory MP Craig Mackinlay, are not in denial, rather they know there is a climate emergency but they just don't care. All that lot care about, in short, is their own wealth. Her conclusion evokes an emotional response from the crowd. (Ed.)

The Leaving of Ballymun

"Two heads are better than one" (S.M.)

Air: Skibbereen*

Oh father dear I often hear you speak of Dub, about
Its coffee smells, its Book of Kells, its billion pints of stout,
The thanks and please, the ocean breeze, and colleens by the ton.
Then tell me Dad what was so bad, you left old Ballymun?

Oh son, I loved my concrete home, its basements and its towers
Till I got the chop from my old job for canoodling in the showers.
My name was mud, my reference dud, my hopes for a rise undone
And that’s the cruel reason I left old Ballymun.

Before I left, was all upset and thought I’d change my mind.
My folks and friends took some offence, and let me in to find
Another boy, some hobbledehoy, had rented my room for one.
I heaved a sigh and said goodbye to dear old Ballymun.

My girlfriend too was bored I knew, and glad to see me go.
Apparently, she two-timed me with a plasterer called Joe.
I got the word and now absurd, what else could I do but run?
And that’s another reason I left old Ballymun.

That you exist, I somehow missed, till you turned up at my door
Ten years hence, with fifty pence and my darling from before.
More plastered, Joe, than plastering, he found out you’re my son,
Then changed the locks and said you pox, get out of Ballymun.

Oh father dear, let us stay here, I’m sorry if I weep.
I’ve made new friends here in Hatch End, and cider is so cheap.
I’ll tell you jokes and quit the smokes. Me ma says you’re the one.
And anyway, we have to stay - there’s no more Ballymun.

--

Stephen Moran

* I didn't like any of the guitar chords I found online for Skibbereen, so I made my own ones that seem to work okay. I think it's in waltz time (3 beats to the bar).

In my version:

[Am] Oh father dear [C] I often hear you [F] speak of [Em] Dub, [Am] about

[F] Its coffee smells, its [C] Book of Kells, its [Em] billion pints of [Am] stout.

[F] The thanks and please, the [C] ocean breeze, and [Em] colleens by the [Am] ton.

[Am] Then tell me, Dad, [C] what was so bad, you [F] left old [Em] Bally [Am] mun. 

In original lyrics:

[Am] Oh father dear, [C] I often hear you [F] speak of [Em] Erin's [Am] isle

[F] Her lofty hills, her [C] valleys green, her [Em] mountains rude and [Am] wild

[F] They say she is a [C] lovely land where-[Em]-in a saint might [Am] dwell

[Am] So why did you [C] abandon her, the [F] reason [Em] to me [Am] tell.

In their recording, The Dubliners with Ronnie Drew singing, do it in F#m (i.e. Em shape but with a capo on the second fret).

27/5/23: I've simplified the chords by using C and F instead of Am7 and Dm7. You can see the chord shapes here. You can decorate the accompaniment more by splitting Em into Em and Em7 and the other ones above. Whether that adds to the effect or detracts is debatable. Sometimes "simple" hits home more.

Short Story of the Month, April 2023

"In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love" according to Tennyson. Well, it's April, and I'm not young, so I think I will just turn lightly to this short story about the hazards of same. (Ed.)

The Willesden Herald Story of the Month

April 2023: Dr Takotsubo, and My Heart by Mike Fox

“I walked along the corridor. Her flat was on the ground floor of a large Edwardian conversion, and seemed to stretch back a long way from front door to garden. It was light and airy in the morning sun, with a particular quietness. I imagined that few, if any, arguments had taken place there.”

Mike Fox has co-authored a book and published many articles on the human repercussions of illness. Now writing fiction, his stories have been nominated for Best of Net and the Pushcart Prize, listed in Best British and Irish Flash Fiction (BIFFY50), and included in Best British Stories 2018 (Salt), His story, The Violet Eye, was published by Nightjar Press as a limited edition chapbook. A collection of new stories is being prepared for publication by Confingo Publishing in 2023. www.polyscribe.co.uk

Photos from Twitter - Greenford Road

Greenford Road near Sudbury Hill today #Photo #HighStreet #Harrow pic.twitter.com/3of52YpppS

— Stephen Moran (@stephen_j_moran) March 14, 2023

A rainy day in South Vale

South Vale, Harrow

Tuesday 28/3/2023. A rainy day in South Vale. The trees on the left are old English oaks on the boundary of Sir John Lyons School playing fields. The verge on the right has a mixture of young Italian alder and old ash trees.

Short Story of the Month, March 2023

I have reason to suspect that when studious geeks at school try the same psychedelic drugs as the seemingly cool popular kids, the effects may be more extreme. This story is a trip in more ways than one. (Ed.)

The Willesden Herald Story of the Month

March 2023: The Paradox of Fossils by Michelle Christophorou

“It was Jim who suggested the magic mushrooms. He knew a guy in Lyme. This was the summer of 1990, just before I left for university, when I was still green as common eelgrass. Fiona said her parents would be away the following weekend, so we could do them at hers.”

Michelle Christophorou lives in Surrey, UK. Her short fiction has appeared in various places online and in print, and her story ‘Wearing You’ (FlashFlood journal) was included in the BIFFY 50 list of best UK and Irish flash 2019/20. She is the author of novella-in-flash, KIPRIS (Ad Hoc Fiction, 2021), shortlisted for a Saboteur Award. In 2022, she won the Free Flash Fiction competition and had work shortlisted in both the Bath Flash and Short Story contests. Michelle is a recovering lawyer. Find out more at michellechristophorou.co.uk.

You can follow Michelle on Twitter @MAChristophorou.

Short Story of the Month, February 2023

And so at last we come to February, the fifth month of 2023. Ed.

The Willesden Herald Story of the Month

February 2023: The Rings by Marion Urch McNulty

“In the hospital in Sligo Town, the undertaker’s assistant was bathing Bridget Ellen while her children were flying or sailing across the Irish Sea from scattered points throughout England. In trains and cars, others were nearer, Ignatius, the youngest of all of them, even had time for a drink.”

Marion Urch McNulty is an award-winning artist and writer. Her first novel Violent Shadows (Headline Review) was published in the UK in 1996. Her second novel An Invitation to Dance (Brandon 2009). Various short stories have been published in Ireland, England, Canada and the US. Her video works are held in galleries around the world and archived by the University of Dundee.

The Rings is part of a collection of short stories titled Of Love and Other Miracles which playfully subverts the lives of the saints.

New Budgens in North Greenford

Photo: Shiny bottle-green shopfront of new local Budgens supermarket

The brand new Budgens is where the old Barclays Bank branch was. The shop is on the service road beside the main Greenford Road. Parking is on-street only and extremely limited, to say the least. On the same parade there are already Iceland and a Mleczko Polish local supermarkets. Nearest underground Sudbury Hill (two minutes walk), buses 92 and H17 stop outside.

Short Story of the Month, January 2023

We're back with a new series of original short stories online. Don't worry, the reprints are still there somewhere on the menu too. And what better way to start the year than with a tale of young people in a northern town, somewhere near the sea and the eternal question about staying or leaving. Ed.

The Willesden Herald Story of the Month

January 2023: This One-Trick Town by Amanda Huggins

“There was a far-off shimmer to the north, and Da told her it was the glow of Newcastle, luring the unwary with her swagger and shine. Annie knew he’d made it up, that you wouldn’t be able to see the city lights from so far away, but she went along with it unquestioningly, as though she believed every word.”

Amanda Huggins

Amanda Huggins is the author of the novellas Crossing the Lines and All Our Squandered Beauty as well as several collections of short stories and poetry. Her work has also appeared in a wide range of journals and newspapers and on BBC Radio. She has won numerous awards, including three Saboteur Awards, the BGTW New Travel Writer of the Year, and the Colm Tóibín and H E Bates short story prizes. She was also a runner-up in the Costa Short Story Award and the Fish Short Story Prize, and has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and many others.

Call for submissions: Story of the Month

This feature is open for submissions again from 5 January 2023.

Story of the Month is an occasional feature for literary fiction. The word range for new submissions is from 1000 to 3000 words. There is no reading fee. Payment is a copy of one of our past anthologies. Please read the guidelines in full before submitting. We are seeking to publish new stories by writers not previously featured in Story of the Month or not featured for more than a year. Story of the Month is online only, not for print publication.