{"id":516,"date":"2010-01-16T13:09:28","date_gmt":"2010-01-16T13:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=516"},"modified":"2010-01-16T13:09:28","modified_gmt":"2010-01-16T13:09:28","slug":"new-prose-dave-early-is-picking-his-way-through-the-brambles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/new-prose-dave-early-is-picking-his-way-through-the-brambles\/","title":{"rendered":"New prose: Dave Early is picking his way through the brambles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><meta name=\"Title\" content=\"\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"Keywords\" content=\"\"><br \/>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"ProgId\" content=\"Word.Document\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"Generator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 2008\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"Originator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 2008\">\n<link style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" rel=\"File-List\" href=\"file:\/\/localhost\/Users\/charles\/Library\/Caches\/TemporaryItems\/msoclip\/0\/clip_filelist.xml\">\n<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n <o:DocumentProperties>\n  <o:Template>Normal.dotm<\/o:Template>\n  <o:Revision>0<\/o:Revision>\n  <o:TotalTime>0<\/o:TotalTime>\n  <o:Pages>1<\/o:Pages>\n  <o:Words>299<\/o:Words>\n  <o:Characters>1706<\/o:Characters>\n  <o:Company>Legal Technology Insider<\/o:Company>\n  <o:Lines>14<\/o:Lines>\n  <o:Paragraphs>3<\/o:Paragraphs>\n  <o:CharactersWithSpaces>2095<\/o:CharactersWithSpaces>\n  <o:Version>12.0<\/o:Version>\n <\/o:DocumentProperties>\n <o:OfficeDocumentSettings>\n  <o:AllowPNG\/>\n <\/o:OfficeDocumentSettings>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n <w:WordDocument>\n  <w:Zoom>0<\/w:Zoom>\n  <w:TrackMoves>false<\/w:TrackMoves>\n  <w:TrackFormatting\/>\n  <w:PunctuationKerning\/>\n  <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt<\/w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>\n  <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt<\/w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>\n  <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0<\/w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>\n  <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0<\/w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>\n  <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas\/>\n  <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false<\/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>\n  <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false<\/w:IgnoreMixedContent>\n  <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false<\/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>\n  <w:Compatibility>\n   <w:BreakWrappedTables\/>\n   <w:DontGrowAutofit\/>\n   <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables\/>\n   <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx\/>\n  <\/w:Compatibility>\n <\/w:WordDocument>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState=\"false\" LatentStyleCount=\"276\">\n <\/w:LatentStyles>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><\/p>\n<style>\n<!--\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\np.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal\n\t{mso-style-parent:\"\";\n\tmargin:0cm;\n\tmargin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:12.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-bidi-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";}\n@page Section1\n\t{size:21.0cm 842.0pt;\n\tmargin:36.0pt 43.2pt 36.0pt 72.0pt;\n\tmso-header-margin:7.1pt;\n\tmso-footer-margin:7.1pt;\n\tmso-paper-source:0;}\ndiv.Section1\n\t{page:Section1;}\n-->\n<\/style>\n<p><!--[if gte mso 10]>\n\n\n<style>\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\ntable.MsoNormalTable\n\t{mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\";\n\tmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;\n\tmso-tstyle-colband-size:0;\n\tmso-style-noshow:yes;\n\tmso-style-parent:\"\";\n\tmso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;\n\tmso-para-margin:0cm;\n\tmso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:12.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;\n\tmso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-bidi-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}\n<\/style>\n\n\n<![endif]--><br \/>\n<!--StartFragment--><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><b>A Way Through The Brambles<o:p><\/o:p><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">There\u2019s a perfectly paved path. It began, as all things<br \/>\nmust, once upon a time. And stretches forth toward the horizon to a place I<br \/>\nknow not where. Many feet traverse this path. Black shoes, white shoes, shiny<br \/>\nshoes, shabby shoes, large shoes, baby shoes, backless slippers, high-heeled<br \/>\nshoes, bare feet with bells on their toes\u2026 They all pass across my eye-line.<br \/>\nFor I am not on this path. I was discarded. Kicked from it by the differing yet<br \/>\nidentical sets of feet.<\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/span>This<br \/>\npath lays flat atop an embankment with a ditch either side. The side which I<br \/>\ninhabit is filled with brambles. Thorny devils woven together in a virtually<br \/>\nimpregnable matrix taller than I can stretch. Presumably the other side is as<br \/>\ninhospitable. <\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/span>Each<br \/>\nday I inch through the barbarous forest at one-hundredth the pace of the feet<br \/>\nabove me marching to their soft rhythm. And as darkness descends my clothes are<br \/>\ntorn, my skin is scarred, and my determination is less than the previous night.<br \/>\nNevertheless, at sun-up I orchestrate another assault on the blockade\u2026 desperate<br \/>\nto reach the destination the feet eagerly head towards in streamlined fashion.<br \/>\nIs there a castle on the other side? Filled with riches. Or a beautiful maiden<br \/>\nbetrothed to me. Will there be luxuries? Entertainment or tranquillity. Or will<br \/>\nI be too late? <\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/span>Above<br \/>\nme the feet pass with veritable ease and eventually out of sight. Night will<br \/>\nshortly fall. And already exhaustion and futility have taken their toll.<br \/>\nPerspiration drips from my brow, stinging my eyes and magically blurring my<br \/>\nsurroundings. Tomorrow would be my eleven thousandth, five hundredth and<br \/>\nsixteenth day battling these fiendish weeds. And I know not how near I am to my<br \/>\nprize. <\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/span>I<br \/>\nneed to rest. And decide to lie down upon the thorns\u2026 winding my limbs through<br \/>\nthe loops and strangleholds surrounding me. They have provided me with bedding<br \/>\nfor so long now, any discomfort I may have once felt has been replaced by a<br \/>\nsense of belonging. <\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/span>There<br \/>\nprobably isn\u2019t any end to the brambles. <\/font><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt; font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><font size=\"2\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Best just to lie here\u2026 and<br \/>\ndream.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt; font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><font size=\"2\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt; font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><font size=\"2\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">* Dave Early<\/span> says &#8220;Life for me began at an early age\u2026 and a few things have happened since then.&#8221;<br \/><\/font><\/p>\n<p><!--EndFragment--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Way Through The Brambles &nbsp; There\u2019s a perfectly paved path. It began, as all things must, once upon a time. And stretches forth toward the horizon to a place I know not where. Many feet traverse this path. Black shoes, white shoes, shiny shoes, shabby shoes, large shoes, baby shoes, backless slippers, high-heeled shoes, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prose-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}