What is the Meaning of Meaning?

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF MEANING?

“He’s got no faloorum, fol-diddle-dol-day
Maids when you’re young, never wed an old man”

Meaning is like faloorum.
Life has no meaning, old men no faloorum.
Fol-diddle-dol-doorum.
He's lacking in meaning fol-diddle-dol-day.
He's got no faloorum, he's meaningless too-rum.
Maids when you're young never ask an old man.

♪ If there’s no meaning no meaning has meaning. ♪

So all is fine because life has no meaning
and nothing has meaning, not meaning itself.
It’s no loss for life to be lacking in something
that has no meaning when lack of a meaning
is the lack of a nothing, by definition,
and the lack of a nothing is no lack at all.

Photos: Billboards apparently advertising Day of the Flying Leaves and New Short Stories 12

The Shallow Cove

I mostly follow behind the kids as their father leads us over grass and bumpy paths in the countryside. We’re on an outing to somewhere. The small boy, knee-high to me, grows tired and stops. “Do you want me to give you a piggyback?” As he’s getting on, I hope I can remember how to do this. He’s actually taller than I thought, something like eleven year-old, can’t really get settled on. Then he’s gone altogether. I’m saying the boy is nowhere to be seen but they have disappeared around the edge of a hill. When I turn left by the hill, it’s our destination- a small sunny cove. The open water is far off to the right and featureless. Here the water is only ankle-deep, clear and floored with colourful stones. The family are on the small beach across the water, along with other groups already there. There is no other way, so I call over to my friend, “Am I supposed to walk across with bare feet?” He answers, “Yes, both of them.” I’m amused and think to myself, this is an excellent example of subtle humour.

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Photo: A view across Kilkeran Lake with the surface reflecting mirror-like the blue sky, white clouds and rushes. On the far side there are farm fields with hedgerows and a homestead in the distance. (West Cork, 2001?)

Everyone in the Street is a Ghost

EVERYONE IN THE STREET IS A GHOST

An elderly mother of ghosts
traipses the soggy winter path,
the lumpy concrete
of Shakespeare's stage,
this world.

In a side street,
ghosts walk alone in anoraks,
all going home from shops
they passed by without buying,
faceless to each other's backs.

Photo: Crowds of people, Piccadilly Circus, Christmas 2018, blurred night scene with glaring lights and pallid illuminated buildings

I Am Words

I AM WORDS

A room empty but for a teletype machine, sporadically producing words.
There's more in the words than there is in the room.
There's more in the words than there is in me.
There's nothing in me but words.
I am words.

Photo: Greenford Road this evening at lighting up time. Cars parked, leaving, passing by with their red tail lights, delivery bikes, shops, street furniture, lamppost lit up, litter, cloudy sky, people in the distance further down the path almost silhouettes etc.

Willesden Results and Awards Event on YouTube (slideshow/video)

New Short Stories

A happy and peaceful Christmas, Hanukkah and general winter wingding to all who love short stories. This is our gift to you! Willesden Herald Short Story Competition 2022 Results and Book Launch

Slideshow and complete recording of the event, with story excerpts, results and prizegiving

Who will take the coveted one-off Willesden Herald inscribed “The Willesden Short Story Prize 2022”? All will be revealed on the night. Plus ten cash prizes to the writers of the stories in New Short Stories 12. From The Performance Space, upstairs in The Library at Willesden Green.

Willesden Herald in association with Liars’ League presents
THE WILLESDEN SHORT STORY PRIZE 2022

AWARDS
Tuesday 8 November 2022
7 to 8:30 pm
The Performance Space
Willesden Green Library
Admission: Free

PRESENTING
Willesden Herald New Short Stories 12

Shoes by David Butler
Remembering not Forgetting by Helen Harjak
Vevey by Catherine McNamara
Haircut by Andy Mead

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Short Story Competition Accounts 2022

Nearly didn’t lose my shirt

New Short Stories

“I always like to be open about where the money comes from and goes to in the Willesden Herald short story competition. …”

Link to read the complete report on the Willesden Herald news blog

Stephen Moran

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Willesden Herald: New Short Stories 12

Please go and buy this collection of short stories I edited. I don’t make any money from online sales but they help to keep the publisher going and pay the annual Ingram catalogue fees.

New Short Stories

Contents

• “Shoes” by David Butler
• “Remembering not Forgetting” by Helen Harjack
• “Vevey” by Catherine McNamara
• “Haircut” by Andy Mead
• “Cuckqeuan” by Jackie Morris
• “My Last Journey with Baron Baldanders” by Peter Newall
• “Empathy” by Diana Powell
• “Things we see, things we don’t” by Anju Sharma
• “Forecast for Rain” by Lui Sit
• “Hotline” by Zakia Uddin

“I can just say read these wonderful wonderful stories. They were an absolute pleasure to read and I hope you too will enjoy these writers as much as I did.”

Jarred McGinnis

Available from (latest info)

• Blackwells.co.uk (“10+ available”, free delivery UK)
• Barnes & Noble (available, free delivery US)
• Amazon.co.uk (“in stock, free delivery with Prime”)
• Amazon.com (“in stock”)
• Waterstones (available to order)
• Bookshop.co.uk (pending)
• Hive.co.uk (pending)

isbn: 979-8-9859089-1-6

Contributors

David Butler’s most recent short story collection is Fugitive (Arlen House, 2021). His novel City of Dis (New Island) was shortlisted for the Kerry Group…

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Announcement: Results of the Willesden Short Story Prize 2022

It was a very good night. Apologies for overrunning the time. Thanks to everyone who came and to Katy Darby and Claire Lacey for bringing the stories to life. Couldn’t have done any of it without the support of Liars’ League and Brent Libraries.

New Short Stories

The Willesden Short Story Prize 2022 was revealed at Willesden Library this evening. First prize went to “Hotline” byZakia Uddin (left).

Runners-up were “Vevey” by Catherine McNamara and “Cuckquean” by Jackie Morris.

Thanks to Claire Lacey and Katy Darby for bringing the stories to life and making the event go with a zing.

Thanks to Jarred McGinnis for judging and to the writers of all ten shortlisted stories, as every one is a prize-winner in this short story competition. (Ed.)

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Message on a Sticker

A MONTH OF SUNDAYS

The only time I'm with you is when you're not here.
Oh never let me see you, let's never meet again.
I can live for eternity on a dismal weekend 
But time goes too fast in heaven.

Photo: Graffiti, The Broadway, North Harrow. More about this on Twitter

Canary Dream #4

CANARY DREAM #4

canary
in a sun-room
when I 
try to put it 
in a cage
 it turns 
      into 
   flakes 
of
   pure yellow
          that 
        scatter 

 in the air

   and out the window

From Day of the Flying Leaves (2021)

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Photo: A story I wrote about Kenny the canary was published in Bird Times (US) in 2002. It subsequently appeared in The London Silence (2004).