Showcase: Outside Baby + June Haibun And Haiku + The Artist + In Shadows Cast

Edited by Palak Tewary

Dear Readers,

As we stand at the threshold between one year’s closing chapter and the next’s unfolding page, I feel both grateful and energised to serve as the Showcase editor for this final month of 2025.

Over these past months, subtle shifts  – in myself, in our communities, in the quiet corners of daily life – have reshaped how I see the world. Not through grand upheavals but through the small evolutions of the heart, mind and habits.

This month invites us to reflect on what has gently transformed within us and around us and to carry those changes with intention into the year ahead. May the words offer perspective, spark curiosity and illuminate the quiet magic of transition. Here’s to closing the year with reflection, opening the next with hope, and celebrating the enduring power of the written word.

Keep celebrating!

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There is a certain kind of childhood shaped not by screens or schedules but by pavements, playgrounds and the unspoken rule that you came home when the streetlights blinked on. Outside Baby is a tribute to that world: where friendships were forged on asphalt, adventure lived at the end of the road and the simplest moments etched themselves into memory. Now the streets are quieter and the screens are brighter but the echoes of those days perhaps still follow us?

Outside Baby

From the top of the road to the end of the street
That’s where us outside babies would meet
From chicken and chips to corner shop sweets
That’s what us outside babies would eat
Anyone got a ball? Meet us in the park
We don’t even keep score; we just play till it’s dark
Permanent stationary to make my mark
I was scared of dogs until I fell in love with that bark
Outside made our lives easy on hard days
Before casinos, I spent my last tenner at the arcade.
No battery on my phone, I still survived
The amount of mileage I’ve done on my bike
The number of trips I’ve done with my guys
Oh. There goes that girl that I like.
Bro used to knock on my door and ask my mum if I’m coming out
Even if she said no, I’m still running out the house
She didn’t like when I was out and about
I could never tell her to shut her mouth
At the end of the day, I’m an outside baby
The zebra crossing raised me and the streetlight saved me
Water fights and ice lollies had me outside daily
I was outside like outside pays me.

© Mister Richie, 2025

Connect with Mister Richie on X: @M1_Richie and Instagram: @m1_richie

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Next up, a poem where on a day when even the taps offered nothing, thirst became a kind of teacher, opening the world in a different light. What follows is a moment suspended between discomfort and wonder, where the simple act of looking up turns scarcity into unexpected beauty. A reminder perhaps to look for the magic in the ordinary?

June Haibun And Haiku

On this hot day at work there was no water. In the whole county, no water. You turned on the taps and… nothing came out.
Sitting in the shade for my tea break I suddenly felt very thirsty and looked up at the blue sky.

Breaking over me
Wave upon wave of white roses
In foaming cataracts

© Lesley Forward, 2025

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In The Artist, Ray invites us to a moment where a slow, sun-soaked walk becomes a front-row seat to the quiet drama and timeless beauty of the riverbank. Here, the act of sketching becomes less about mastery and more about presence, as the living landscape reveals scenes no pencil could fully contain. There is serenity, surprise and deep gratitude found in simply pausing long enough to see the world as it is.

The Artist

I walked along the dusty path
on yet another sunny day,
until I found the perfect spot.
The river slowly wound its way.

I sat there with my pad and pens,
my hat pulled down to give me shade,
then I began to sketch the scene,
to recreate what nature made.

On yonder bank the trees bowed down,
with leaves like fingers hanging there
in the slowly moving water,
the smells of summer fill the air.

The near bank hung with tufted grass,
cow parsley, docks and marigold.
The water voles peeped out below,
as they have done since time untold.

Mayflies flew across the surface,
water boatmen skipped around
in the margins of the river.
Can better place on earth be found?

Just then there was a flash of blue
from the far bank and bullet-like
a shape blurred past diving headlong
into the water, made its strike.

A short time passed and then it rose
victorious, bearing its catch.
The kingfisher had made his move,
the fish today had met its match.

He flew triumphant to the trees,
his blue and orange colours bright.
He found his perch, consumed his meal,
his hunger sated for the night.

I closed my sketchbook with a smile,
I knew that I could never draw
the glory of that ancient fight.
No paint could capture what I saw.

As I walked back along the path,
my heart was full, my spirit free,
the river slowly wound its way,
the birds sang in the woods for me.

© Ray Miles, 2025

Connect with Ray on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ray.miles.507

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Finally, I leave you with my poem In Shadows Cast from my first poetry collection The Stanzas Of Dreams which explores how identity is shaped not by certainty but by contrast; on finding wholeness in every shade, flaw, brilliance and mystery within. It invites us to see the self as something fluid, shifting, evolving and beautifully layered, revealed in the quiet dance between shadow and light.

In Shadows Cast

In shadows cast, I find my face,
A spectral of shades, I see,
Embracing every hue and trace.

In dusky depths, I find my place,
Where light and darkness intertwine,
In shadows cast, I find my face.

I dance with shadows, interlace
The fragments of my soul’s design,
Embracing every hue and trace.

Through twilight’s veil, I boldly chase
The mysteries that lie beneath,
In shadows cast, I find my face.

With every step, I boldly embrace
The varied tones that make me whole,
Embracing every hue and trace.

So let the shadows now efface
The boundaries of what I can be,
In shadows cast, I find my face,
Embracing every hue and trace.

© Palak Tewary, 2024

Connect with Palak on www.palaktewary.com or Twitter/Instagram: @palaktewary

The Stanzas Of Dreams is available free on Kindle Unlimited and can be purchased here: https://tinyurl.com/AmznTSOD

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You can hear great new ideas, creative work and writing tips on Write On! Audio. Find us on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Google Podcasts and Spotify. Type Pen to Print into your browser and look for our logo, or find us on Podcasters.Spotify.com.

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