Every month an idea is suggested, written below. Writers and poets are then invited to write up to a 150 word story or 15 line poem on it. The deadline is four weeks from the published date, so the deadline for the May 18 idea will be June 18 and so on. The submissions are initially published on this website and then in a book. Send your submissions to tsaunderspubs@gmail.com and include Idea in the subject bar. They will be published on this page. In time they will feature in their own book. Good luck!
November 8, 2023
Where would we be without religion?
Where would we be without religion?
Easter would be cancelled,
so would Christmas too,
No Easter eggs to buy,
or Christmas shopping to do.
No gods to worship,
no hymns to sing.
No religious conflicts or wars,
now, there’s a thing?
No more boring sermons,
no mass at midnight or morning.
No church bells breaking sleep,
early on Sunday morning.
No priests, rabbis or vicars,
Imams or a Pope.
No religion, no hope?
Garry Davidson
Religious zealot
Explode forth, with saber in your hand,
smite the enemy, this religion, I don't understand.
Foe to my beliefs, a fear stirs through my soul.
Fight with all your might, winning is your goal.
Do not let this alien language, forever onwards spread,
keep your own faith, firmly inside your head.
He who practises his own, is traitor to the King,
who is appointed by God, so the true religion sings!
So take up arms and smite the bloody zealot,
while you are left bleeding, afore Christ, who you forgot!
Laura Sanders
Peace perfect peace
"Peace perfect peace,
the Mass puts me at ease.
Calmness washes over my soul,
I'm safe, as God is my goal.
He is at the centre of my prayers,
with others in reverence, I share.
Staring at the crucifix and priest,
instils peace, perfect, peace.
The incense, the sombre, the gloom,
the altar within the room,
the body and blood of Christ,
I leave feeling holy and nice.
Laura Sanders
Joe and I play golf two or three times a week at the County Club, but Joe would never play on Sunday. I don’t know Joe’s thoughts on religion, but I knew he went to church every Sunday and told me he believed in God. He invoked that belief every time we played hole number five over a lake about one hundred and forty yards down the fairway. When Joe hit his drive off the tee, he would always say, “God, don’t let that ball go into the lake,” and you know God always seemed to grant his wish. Without religion, the ball would probably have gone into the lake, and so would his second shot. Religion and his belief in God are what has kept Joe’s handicap at eighteen and not twenty-two.
John Siko
A world without religion I’ll have to defer to Marx
his prison manifestos only grew the hunger for the divine spark.
Has a world without religion ever been documented fact?
No it’s been here in view and the abstract
it’s been in text but especially in hearts.
Man knows his days are counted so he asks what’s beyond us
that question hasn’t been answered in scientific catharsis
his soul searches for comfort in light of hard realities
all over the earth is this shared commonality
that’s why even great nations profess “In God We Trust”.
History can tell us Theocracies Forgot God gives us Free Will
excess in that regard crafts the strategy for the Pol Pots and more still
a world without religion is a veil for replacing man’s sacred space
it’s man’s spirit not houses of worship the goal to replace
but for those who seek God, the Light, Truth and the Way will fulfil.
Tom Bowler
Deep Red
Will you walk me home
before the next strike -
help me find her
red geranium?
There’s a half-roofed room
a weeping window a grating door
and a tap I need all my strength
to squeeze a few drops for
her
red geranium.
Will you walk me home
through dust through rubble
help me find her
red geranium
the colour of her lipstick?
Jan Price
Where would we be without religion?
By Karen Lee Mills
Everybody believes in something; we have a set of belief systems. Each of us has been given a conscience, a person's moral sense of right and wrong, inner thoughts of knowledge, guiding our behaviour.
I personally don’t call myself religious, rather I am a Christian. A Christian is a Christ follower. I live to bring glory and honour to Christ, my redeemer and saviour. I find identity in Christ; I have a purpose and I am empowered to live an amazing life. Let the great mystery of God draw you to a wonder of living truth, may you have the joy of discovering Christ as I know Him. This is my story.
I finish with a verse from the Holy Bible, Psalms Ch73 v24, “You lead me with your secret wisdom. And following you brings me into your brightness and glory.”
September 7, 2023
Pass the buck
Pass the buck.
"Just pass the buck," said Uncle Jim,
"then with luck you'll start to win."
"Work no more!" said Auntie Anne,
"just laze and snooze, sleep all you can."
"No more shoppin'," said my friend Jayne.
"No more moppin' or housework again!
"Just pass the buck, you've done your share,
you've done too much, it isn't fair!"
So I sat down and had a rest,
like a clown, I'd tried my best!
I'd tried to do, the ruddy lot,
my pride had kept me, sizzling hot!
I needed a break, so I gave in,
a breather I took, I'm not made of tin!
So I passed the buck, but no one's there?
But housework sucks,
SO I DON'T CARE!!
Laura Sanders
July 12, 2023
Love and kindness in a troubled world.
Annoying Nigel
by Sharon Webster
We lived in a gold fish bowl, an English village so quaint, that the world and his wife would come to visit on Saturdays and then on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays. ……in fact, every day, especially if the sun was out. It was good for the businesses, for the cafes, the arty craft shop, the pub, farm, garden centre, but it was not good for us. Maybe without Nigel, it would have been better but Nigel was a fixture, non-negotiable. His family had been prominent in the village forever, influential voices on the committee, always around, and for a year he had been the owner of the pub. And yes, alarm bells should be ringing, I think the tune is called conflict of interests. He was a man possessed, draconian in his expectations, or dare I say demands, the
same paint colour for fences and houses, the same flowers in pots, coordinating herbaceous borders, no loud music, ball games, the list went on and on.
“It’s all for the village.” he would bark if questioned, tall, imposing, somewhat scary.
“He’ll be telling us next that we have to smile all the time, pretend to be happy “ Jack had muttered under his breath after a particularly bad melt down on Nigel’s part.
Jack was chief gardener at the big house, an old friend from school and we had chuckled together but looking back we both remember that moment as the one we knew something had to be done. We wanted to live in a real place, lively, a bit random, in some way crooked, slightly messy, spontaneous.
Luckily there had been a settlement on the land since the beginning of time. Conflicts of interest and Nigels had come and gone but it had remained and perhaps it was this spirit, this strength, that inspired us, perhaps it was just mischievousness and wanting to annoy Nigel, but we rallied. We were not alone. There was a group. We called ourselves guerilla gardeners, guerilla Jekyll gardeners meeting at dusk, digging in darkness, planting, erecting, and as the cottage garden colours came up, then so did artisan signposts and more extrovert fences and sheds. The village still looked amazing but in a different way. One lady described the change as ‘like an artist painting a picture that only includes the structures he sees, beautiful enough, but then improved beyond measure with the addition of an assault on the senses, with life’.
Word got out, I suppose it all captured the feeling of the moment and we were as popular as ever but now, at least it was a real place and more us.
And Nigel, well that was the best bit. Something unexpected happened to Nigel. He fell in love; he was a changed man gone all organic and beardie weirdie.
No more clipboards. Yeah.
Love and kindness in a troubled world
We need more love and kindness, in this troubled world we live in.
People no longer seem to care, in this world of shame and sin.
Folk have become hardened and aloof, to the badness going on,
perpetuating villainy and crime, the world needs love-a tonne!
They turn their faces away from kindness, not wanting to seem weak,
keeping up a tough man image, is what they wish to seek.
But others consist solely of kindness, helping others at any cost.
Sometimes their self-sacrificed lives are damaged, or can end up lost!
These are the people, we must admire, and should look up to,
for without these saviours and heroes, life is hopeless, all through!
The world is growing more troubled, each and every day,
when you're shocked, seen it all, something worse comes along the way!
It's hard but kindness, is the only way we can deal with this,
prayer, love, understanding, the answers, and should not go amiss.
The world is spinning out of control, let's just be loving and kind,
before it comes off its axis, and flies off, away in time!
Laura Sanders
Don't – please
Don't look at me with pity
don't walk away concerned
don't think I have no choices
don't think I have no bed
don't pity my plight, especially tonight
don't try to read my “head”
don't ever stop believing in goodness
don't wonder how I came to be
don't watch me sitting, begging, crying
don't ever share my shame
don't write about my feelings
don't ever write my name
don't think that all is sorted,
don't check the queuing lane
don't please. Just for me?
Alan Grant
June 14, 2023
Politics....
The Politician
humans are again dying
we ask what for?
Politicians are again lying
in their eternal ego war.
The politician plays their games
not for us, but their own destiny
and by fanning the war flames
they position themselves in history.
It's their fault we all cry
but you and I are all part of this
it is we the masses who comply
and children who feel a missile's kiss.
All the while we consume
more and more with no regret
resources forever egos assume
billion years creation easily reset.
History only relevant if there's a future
how will sapiens prove their worth?
They will reap what is sown for sure.
Will history be an empty nuclear earth?
Who can save us from this war of attrition
well maybe there is a Lord politician?
Dave Larcombe
Gissa
Gis a job mate, gis a job
come on miss, don't be a snob
love nor hate, just vote for me
don't make me wait, or pontificate
put your cross against my name
try it, do it. See. No shame!
Cast aside red, green or blue
go for someone just like you
no fancy schools, no higher ed
vote for someone who's good in bed
so I'm told, but daren't repeat
cannot brag but on the street
I'm quite a lad and so discreet
so if you want an active member
vote for an election night to remember.
Alan Grant
Politics...
God, Politics, just leaves me nowadays, feeling kinda numb,
wanting to switch off, before it has all spouted, begun...
Politicians, have a habit of wittering on and on...
Empty promises, for a 2024 election, that has yet to run.
But, do you really trust an MP, a House of Commons, politician?
When they are in power, they fail in their manifesto fruition.
Or they are full of sleaze, or fraudulent in their mission.
They make you want to rise up and spread anger, sedition.
There's not much to choose between Tories and Labour,
I don't see the PM as the common person's saviour.
We just need stability, sometimes, or the UK will waver.
Boris and Liz Truss are certainly not in my favour.
Always there is something happening, in Gov,on the news.
I am forced to listen to their policies, prefering to snooze.
Their words are empty, gives me the blues.
Some people disillusioned, politicians never fail to amuse.
Laura Sanders
May 18, 2023
Macrame...
I think I must be quite barmy,
to try to learn macrame.
I'd need a whole army,
but nothing here, can harm me.
It's so intricate you see,
a creative, patterned hobby.
Turning hemp into knots,
I'll soon be hooked... or not?
Learning designs, for my home,
I'm stuck here learning, all alone.
Turning myself into knots,
making hangers, for these plant- pots!
I am now twisted up, ooh aahh!
Think I'll just go make, that cuppa!
Knew my tired fingers, would suffer!
Laura Sanders
Where would we be without religion?
Where would we be without religion?
Easter would be cancelled,
so would Christmas too,
No Easter eggs to buy,
or Christmas shopping to do.
No gods to worship,
no hymns to sing.
No religious conflicts or wars,
now, there’s a thing?
No more boring sermons,
no mass at midnight or morning.
No church bells breaking sleep,
early on Sunday morning.
No priests, rabbis or vicars,
Imams or a Pope.
No religion, no hope?
Garry Davidson
Religious zealot
Explode forth, with saber in your hand,
smite the enemy, this religion, I don't understand.
Foe to my beliefs, a fear stirs through my soul.
Fight with all your might, winning is your goal.
Do not let this alien language, forever onwards spread,
keep your own faith, firmly inside your head.
He who practises his own, is traitor to the King,
who is appointed by God, so the true religion sings!
So take up arms and smite the bloody zealot,
while you are left bleeding, afore Christ, who you forgot!
Laura Sanders
Peace perfect peace
"Peace perfect peace,
the Mass puts me at ease.
Calmness washes over my soul,
I'm safe, as God is my goal.
He is at the centre of my prayers,
with others in reverence, I share.
Staring at the crucifix and priest,
instils peace, perfect, peace.
The incense, the sombre, the gloom,
the altar within the room,
the body and blood of Christ,
I leave feeling holy and nice.
Laura Sanders
Joe and I play golf two or three times a week at the County Club, but Joe would never play on Sunday. I don’t know Joe’s thoughts on religion, but I knew he went to church every Sunday and told me he believed in God. He invoked that belief every time we played hole number five over a lake about one hundred and forty yards down the fairway. When Joe hit his drive off the tee, he would always say, “God, don’t let that ball go into the lake,” and you know God always seemed to grant his wish. Without religion, the ball would probably have gone into the lake, and so would his second shot. Religion and his belief in God are what has kept Joe’s handicap at eighteen and not twenty-two.
John Siko
A world without religion I’ll have to defer to Marx
his prison manifestos only grew the hunger for the divine spark.
Has a world without religion ever been documented fact?
No it’s been here in view and the abstract
it’s been in text but especially in hearts.
Man knows his days are counted so he asks what’s beyond us
that question hasn’t been answered in scientific catharsis
his soul searches for comfort in light of hard realities
all over the earth is this shared commonality
that’s why even great nations profess “In God We Trust”.
History can tell us Theocracies Forgot God gives us Free Will
excess in that regard crafts the strategy for the Pol Pots and more still
a world without religion is a veil for replacing man’s sacred space
it’s man’s spirit not houses of worship the goal to replace
but for those who seek God, the Light, Truth and the Way will fulfil.
Tom Bowler
Deep Red
Will you walk me home
before the next strike -
help me find her
red geranium?
There’s a half-roofed room
a weeping window a grating door
and a tap I need all my strength
to squeeze a few drops for
her
red geranium.
Will you walk me home
through dust through rubble
help me find her
red geranium
the colour of her lipstick?
Jan Price
Where would we be without religion?
By Karen Lee Mills
Everybody believes in something; we have a set of belief systems. Each of us has been given a conscience, a person's moral sense of right and wrong, inner thoughts of knowledge, guiding our behaviour.
I personally don’t call myself religious, rather I am a Christian. A Christian is a Christ follower. I live to bring glory and honour to Christ, my redeemer and saviour. I find identity in Christ; I have a purpose and I am empowered to live an amazing life. Let the great mystery of God draw you to a wonder of living truth, may you have the joy of discovering Christ as I know Him. This is my story.
I finish with a verse from the Holy Bible, Psalms Ch73 v24, “You lead me with your secret wisdom. And following you brings me into your brightness and glory.”
September 7, 2023
Pass the buck
Pass the buck.
"Just pass the buck," said Uncle Jim,
"then with luck you'll start to win."
"Work no more!" said Auntie Anne,
"just laze and snooze, sleep all you can."
"No more shoppin'," said my friend Jayne.
"No more moppin' or housework again!
"Just pass the buck, you've done your share,
you've done too much, it isn't fair!"
So I sat down and had a rest,
like a clown, I'd tried my best!
I'd tried to do, the ruddy lot,
my pride had kept me, sizzling hot!
I needed a break, so I gave in,
a breather I took, I'm not made of tin!
So I passed the buck, but no one's there?
But housework sucks,
SO I DON'T CARE!!
Laura Sanders
July 12, 2023
Love and kindness in a troubled world.
Annoying Nigel
by Sharon Webster
We lived in a gold fish bowl, an English village so quaint, that the world and his wife would come to visit on Saturdays and then on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays. ……in fact, every day, especially if the sun was out. It was good for the businesses, for the cafes, the arty craft shop, the pub, farm, garden centre, but it was not good for us. Maybe without Nigel, it would have been better but Nigel was a fixture, non-negotiable. His family had been prominent in the village forever, influential voices on the committee, always around, and for a year he had been the owner of the pub. And yes, alarm bells should be ringing, I think the tune is called conflict of interests. He was a man possessed, draconian in his expectations, or dare I say demands, the
same paint colour for fences and houses, the same flowers in pots, coordinating herbaceous borders, no loud music, ball games, the list went on and on.
“It’s all for the village.” he would bark if questioned, tall, imposing, somewhat scary.
“He’ll be telling us next that we have to smile all the time, pretend to be happy “ Jack had muttered under his breath after a particularly bad melt down on Nigel’s part.
Jack was chief gardener at the big house, an old friend from school and we had chuckled together but looking back we both remember that moment as the one we knew something had to be done. We wanted to live in a real place, lively, a bit random, in some way crooked, slightly messy, spontaneous.
Luckily there had been a settlement on the land since the beginning of time. Conflicts of interest and Nigels had come and gone but it had remained and perhaps it was this spirit, this strength, that inspired us, perhaps it was just mischievousness and wanting to annoy Nigel, but we rallied. We were not alone. There was a group. We called ourselves guerilla gardeners, guerilla Jekyll gardeners meeting at dusk, digging in darkness, planting, erecting, and as the cottage garden colours came up, then so did artisan signposts and more extrovert fences and sheds. The village still looked amazing but in a different way. One lady described the change as ‘like an artist painting a picture that only includes the structures he sees, beautiful enough, but then improved beyond measure with the addition of an assault on the senses, with life’.
Word got out, I suppose it all captured the feeling of the moment and we were as popular as ever but now, at least it was a real place and more us.
And Nigel, well that was the best bit. Something unexpected happened to Nigel. He fell in love; he was a changed man gone all organic and beardie weirdie.
No more clipboards. Yeah.
Love and kindness in a troubled world
We need more love and kindness, in this troubled world we live in.
People no longer seem to care, in this world of shame and sin.
Folk have become hardened and aloof, to the badness going on,
perpetuating villainy and crime, the world needs love-a tonne!
They turn their faces away from kindness, not wanting to seem weak,
keeping up a tough man image, is what they wish to seek.
But others consist solely of kindness, helping others at any cost.
Sometimes their self-sacrificed lives are damaged, or can end up lost!
These are the people, we must admire, and should look up to,
for without these saviours and heroes, life is hopeless, all through!
The world is growing more troubled, each and every day,
when you're shocked, seen it all, something worse comes along the way!
It's hard but kindness, is the only way we can deal with this,
prayer, love, understanding, the answers, and should not go amiss.
The world is spinning out of control, let's just be loving and kind,
before it comes off its axis, and flies off, away in time!
Laura Sanders
Don't – please
Don't look at me with pity
don't walk away concerned
don't think I have no choices
don't think I have no bed
don't pity my plight, especially tonight
don't try to read my “head”
don't ever stop believing in goodness
don't wonder how I came to be
don't watch me sitting, begging, crying
don't ever share my shame
don't write about my feelings
don't ever write my name
don't think that all is sorted,
don't check the queuing lane
don't please. Just for me?
Alan Grant
June 14, 2023
Politics....
The Politician
humans are again dying
we ask what for?
Politicians are again lying
in their eternal ego war.
The politician plays their games
not for us, but their own destiny
and by fanning the war flames
they position themselves in history.
It's their fault we all cry
but you and I are all part of this
it is we the masses who comply
and children who feel a missile's kiss.
All the while we consume
more and more with no regret
resources forever egos assume
billion years creation easily reset.
History only relevant if there's a future
how will sapiens prove their worth?
They will reap what is sown for sure.
Will history be an empty nuclear earth?
Who can save us from this war of attrition
well maybe there is a Lord politician?
Dave Larcombe
Gissa
Gis a job mate, gis a job
come on miss, don't be a snob
love nor hate, just vote for me
don't make me wait, or pontificate
put your cross against my name
try it, do it. See. No shame!
Cast aside red, green or blue
go for someone just like you
no fancy schools, no higher ed
vote for someone who's good in bed
so I'm told, but daren't repeat
cannot brag but on the street
I'm quite a lad and so discreet
so if you want an active member
vote for an election night to remember.
Alan Grant
Politics...
God, Politics, just leaves me nowadays, feeling kinda numb,
wanting to switch off, before it has all spouted, begun...
Politicians, have a habit of wittering on and on...
Empty promises, for a 2024 election, that has yet to run.
But, do you really trust an MP, a House of Commons, politician?
When they are in power, they fail in their manifesto fruition.
Or they are full of sleaze, or fraudulent in their mission.
They make you want to rise up and spread anger, sedition.
There's not much to choose between Tories and Labour,
I don't see the PM as the common person's saviour.
We just need stability, sometimes, or the UK will waver.
Boris and Liz Truss are certainly not in my favour.
Always there is something happening, in Gov,on the news.
I am forced to listen to their policies, prefering to snooze.
Their words are empty, gives me the blues.
Some people disillusioned, politicians never fail to amuse.
Laura Sanders
May 18, 2023
Macrame...
I think I must be quite barmy,
to try to learn macrame.
I'd need a whole army,
but nothing here, can harm me.
It's so intricate you see,
a creative, patterned hobby.
Turning hemp into knots,
I'll soon be hooked... or not?
Learning designs, for my home,
I'm stuck here learning, all alone.
Turning myself into knots,
making hangers, for these plant- pots!
I am now twisted up, ooh aahh!
Think I'll just go make, that cuppa!
Knew my tired fingers, would suffer!
Laura Sanders
