I can still hear my Grandma’s voice
on those nights that I’d stay
at her place as a child.
The room would slowly fill with Chopin,
Beethoven, her cigarette smoke
and empty wine bottles –
as we’d huddle around the gas heater
and she’d tell me about growing up in Wales,
before wrenching her Salem painting
from the wall –
showing me the devil depicted in
the lady’s shawl and in turn she’d tell me
all about Devil’s Bridge Falls and how
an elderly Welsh lady once tricked
the devil at his own game –
to which he’d furiously then vowed
to never return to Wales again.
But Wales’ glory years were long gone,
she’d then tell me, after the mines closed
and heroin hit the streets –
as if the devil’s word
could have ever been trusted.
***
Gwil James Thomas is a poet, novelist and inept musician. He lives in his hometown of Bristol, England but has also lived in London, Brighton and Spain. He has twice been nominated for Best of The Net and once for The Pushcart Prize. His ninth chapbook of poetry Part English, Part Welsh, Part Wolf is due to published by Scumbag Press soon. In a past life he was a member of the band Irreparables. Instagram: @gwiljamesthomas
***
image: “Spider Web:” Andrea Damic lives in Sydney, Australia. Words in @50wordstories, @FridayFlashFict, @paragraphplanet, @100WordsFTW and Microfiction Monday Magazine.Photographs in @rejectionlit, @FusionArtPS and several others pending print publication in @DoorIsAJarMag. Follow Andrea on TW @DamicAndrea. One day she hopes to finish and publish her novel.
Rejection Letters 