One morning, early and cold I sat waiting for the place to open; There was a blue hue to the day dawning And the attendant smoked For something to do. She was there again, that girl More a woman, with the demeanour of a teen – And I wondered about her father And if she’d been a daddy’s girl. Now she seemed nobody’s – Always solitary Her leather jacket Like protection from her own Head wind....

Constricted and stabbed to life With poison this Sideways Creature Was born to suffer And love it; He sung like a crow that became a raven. With his singing he conceived a painting The currents in his brain, alternate And go from “sane” to “extremely sane” To “I just don’t care.”   A cigarette instead of air And feathers for hair.   For a flightless man he soars too high, Hoping to burn and crash, he can never die distorted; In this closed circuit of life Seeing a reflection with closed...

He held the flame An inch from his face Watched it dance And lick the match With its destructive kiss He inhaled Exhaled Then closed his eyes And wallowed In the fleeting warmth And the darkness Left behind

It’s the beat, quickness, sound, volume and appearance of drums that catches people’s attention. There are many different types of drums and various ways of playing them. The drumkit is the most commonly well-known type but you also have orchestral percussion sections with timpani drums, bass drums, snares drums and different types of cymbals. Marching bands also have a big percussion section mainly of snare drums and a bass drum used to keep the band in time like a metronome. This applies to all drummers because in all bands the drummer controls the tempo. I became interested in drums at a very young age. The beat and sound of the drums was always the thing that caught my attention in a song. I remember making beats on buckets, pots and pans, tabletops and any surface really, just to be able to feel like I was playing on a real set of drums. I never learned to read music for drums but have been receiving drum lessons since the age of eight. My interest and the fact I’d already been playing around with drum beats meant that I developed a skill of playing drums by ear. Most drummers have this – the skill of being able to learn how to play a song just by listening to it. The volume of the drums in songs makes it easier task to discern the drum pattern than trying to hear what the other instruments are playing. I believe this is why lots of drummers don’t learn how to read music; they feel they can hear quite clearly what is being played. Putting on a CD and playing the drums for a few hours is one of my favourite things but nothing compares to playing in a band....

We’re inviting writers to submit short stories inspired by the picture you see here. Please send in your entry on or before Thursday 21st of November 2013. We look forward to reading all entries and choosing our favourite which will be posted on the site.

Graphic novel 2014 Cork City Libraries are looking for writers and artists for their upcoming graphic novel and illustrated story and poetry workshops. Eligible candidates must be secondary school students 15 years of age or older Workshops will take place on Saturday mornings from 10.30a.m. Writers may submit  both short fiction and poetry FIND OUT MORE...