Soliloquy

Watching the Universe I watch the universe like a hawk Monitor every country, every move Stop a terrorist here A crazed gunman there And when the world is not looking my way I protect my young. Build my nest with thicker twigs So they won’t fall Not just yet Until they learn to fly on their own, Metaphorically speaking, for they have long flown the nest I can focus on the rest. Like a vigipirate I watch over this world Because if I shift my attention just a little bit The world wobbles. You may laugh at my arrogance And think I’m a little mad But it’s true. I watch the birds fly Their raucous cry Mingle with rustling leaves that whisper I feel the chill in the air Danger. I have dropped the ball And must start all over Because yesterday I forgot to light The incense before my shrine Where dead elders, framed in silver, sit side by side Spirits locked forever behind glass And today three men empty cartridges In a mindl

Having just won the 2015 Annual Debut Novel Competition with Cinnamon Press and bagging a promise of publication in early 2017, I feel elated but mostly relieved at having nearly reached my final stop. 'Under The Pipal Tree' is going to be out there! A scary thought - I feel as if I'm suspended at the top of a ride looking down - my heart, simultaneously thumping with excitement and plummeting with fear. http://www.cinnamonpress.com/index.php/blog/entry/2015-annual-debut-novel-novella-prize/ It has been an incerdibly long journey but I wouldn't have done it any other way. No short cuts for me. I needed to learn the hard way. Years of practising my craft, on my own, trying to find my voice has not been a waste of time. For some, ten to fiteen years seem too long to achieve their dreams. Imagine this as your Mona Lisa, would you print and sell your first tentative sketches or wait for that magic moment when despite bucket loads of self-doubt you think 'that's