I’ve been experimenting with more short writing forms recently. In part this is due to time – as usual, paid work has to come first! But also because it’s fun to stretch my creativity in different ways. It’s also a bit terrifying: I know I am a decent writer of fiction and non-fiction (or, at least, decent enough that I have made money from it) – but can I actually write poetry? Songs? Which also makes it even scarier to share my work, because I’m terrified people will go, bloody hell, that’s shit. So in the spirit of pushing myself out of my comfort zone, here’s a little poem I wrote!

Friendship isn’t Bonsai

Friendship isn’t Bonsai

It’s a garden, often wild

Sometimes you overwater

Or accidentally starve

Sometimes the vine you tended

So carefully

Breaks

A flower grown too heavy

Snaps at the stem

Sometimes there’s a storm

You simply cannot weather

A harsh winter

An early frost

Sometimes you miss the weeds

Until they choke you

But sometimes

Just sometimes

A seed you forgot you planted

Blooms.