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This is a reworking of ‘street of the candlesticks’, edited down to 500 words for a RB group. As soon as I heard the theme ‘The City’ I knew I had to write of my beloved Brussels. I lived in the Sablon, the medieval artists’ quarter of tiny crooked lanes and crumbling gargoyles. My house held five storeys lilting into the Flemish sky; my room had blood red walls and huge ivory windows that looked out over the cobblestones. I would sit there day after day with a pen in my hand, and stories were always delivered to my windowsill. People never look up. They really should. Flemish / Kandelaarsstraat – candlestick street / Wat doe je daar, schramoelenbak? – What are you doing, trash bag? / maa crotje – my honey bee / mijn schattebolleke – my little ball of darling
Basically in this poem i was going for the idea of living in the city. How society has somewhat died in its values of simpler things and has overcast the beauty of nature with steel and artificial life.
fiction
This poem had a few influences. At the time I wrote it, I was listening to a CD by a singer/songwriter called Amy MacDonald. For a (then) 19 year old, she has an amazing understanding of life, which is shown by her lyrics. This got me thinking about everything that was going on in the world. For quite a while in the UK, there has been alot of hype about stabbings, but also at the time, there seemed almost to be an epidemic of suicides in one town by teenagers, suggesting too much pressure from modern day life.
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The City is the latest RedBubble publication where we aim to showcase the best work visual and written work on the Web. With over $5,000 in prizes, The City is open to all works that explore the complex, dynamic vibrant world of concrete, glass and humanity that are urban environments all over the world.
The best works will be selected for publication in the book “The City” to come out in November and available for sale through RedBubble.
We publish these books regularly as a way for the RedBubble community to showcase their work in a professionally presented and designed book working with a copy editor. It’s one way RedBubble provides opportunities for professional development for its members.
The top written and visual work will receive US$ 250 in cash each and a $US 250 RedBubble voucher. Each of the published works will receive a $US 40 voucher to purchase work on RedBubble.
To enter written works, upload them to this group. There is a maximum of one written work per person. There is a limit of 500 words per entry.
Entries close October 1st
If you love reading and would like to help shortlist written works for this publication, drop us an email
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