They come too easily to some

but not to others

They're used to encourage,

enthrall, entice

At the same time though

to tarnish, abuse,

maim

Yours however did both

together

They sliced and stitched

cut and cured

pricked and patched

Sometimes,

I wish for a real punch

a kick, a throttling

Something

everyone could see

could judge

But no,

you're too smart too

clever to be seen

Because, after all,

it must be all in my head

"What do you mean you're bisexual?" Dad says, his lips twisting.

"Well, I like men and wome-"

He waves his hand on the air impatiently.

"I know what it means! I'm not stupid."

I shrug and blow out a breath.

"I've never hidden it," I say.

He blinks, looks to Mum and back to me again. I drop my gaze as silence swells around us like an over filled balloon.

"Are you angry?" I ask.

Dad tuts and throws his napkin on the table.

"Of course I am. You're 33 now and I could have spent all this time talking about hot women with you!"

DD

Thick, shiny

Strong.

Mr Gray's toy collection

User instructions never adhered

Have you ever

once seen one where

it's supposed to be?

Holding cables, bundled together

Like locks of hair

glossy and straight

A wig at the back of the TV.

Snips and nips of sliced ties

across the estate floor,

Gigantic ants scuttling

to safety from

The scissors of life

Well, lucky for you, I keep a dream journal after hearing a lyric in a Libertines song ('When she wakes up in the mornin'/ She writes down all her dreams'). Unfortunately, I don't always remember my dreams, but I have a fair few in the book. Once I begin writing it, the details appear as if by magic, even if I thought I couldn't remember them. Once written, I tend to remember them well.

It was also recommended as part of my Creative Writing Degree. When I explained to the tutor I worried that my dreams might make me appear a bit weird if anyone ever read them. She simply said 'lean into the weird, it's where the best ideas are.' You can be the judge of if I am actually insane as you read on.

My dreams are always messy, chaotic and bitty, but they have provided me with some good inspiration for short stories and fiction. They can be scary (often filled with zombies), erotic (dream Lizzie is sex mad apparently) and prophetic (I used to dream about floods/ plane crashes etc.)

Here is an excerpt from my dream diary.

I'm in bed, but its pitch black. Still, I know its my old bedroom in the house I gre up in in London. I shared with my sister and I can hear her breathing deep and slow in her bed by the door. I am in the bed by the window.

My senses prickle and the bedroom door creaks open. A tall, muscular figure fills the doorway, the dim light from the hallway only highlighting his outline.

He moved into the room through the liquid shadows. His hair is long and curly and glows red in the dark. He has a hundred piercings which glint as he creeps towards me. I curl my fingers into the blanket. I can't hear my sister now over my own heart thumping in my ears.

I am frozen. I can't speak, but I am awake, I know I am. I must be, it feels so real, from the fly that snuck in through the open window that just flitted across my cheek to the scent of whisky and cigarettes clinging to his shimmering skin.

I lay still as he peers over me. I wet my lips.

His breathing is ragged and I can see he's already hard through his shiny leather trousers.

The mattress dips as he climbs on top of me.

It's Dee Snider (Yes... from 80s hair metal band Twisted Sister).

Music and glitter, what more could you want?

Velvet Goldmine is a fictional account based loosely on the alleged relationship between glam rock mega star David Bowie and garage rock bad boy Iggy Pop.

The film is set mostly in 1970's England when glam rock was taking the nation and turning them into glitter raving loonies.

The costumes are amazing, the soundtrack is epic, featuring songs by Roxy Music and Slade (yes, 'Merry Christmas Everyone Slade') and there is a stellar cast including Ewan McGregor, Christian Bale and Eddie Izzard.

The film deals unashamedly, yet at the same time sympathetically with themes of drugs (mis)use, alcoholism, bisexuality, adultery and fame.

Another point I would have to make is that one of the producers of the film is REM legend Michael Stipe.

90's rock band Placebo even show their pretty little faces faces (and their musical talent) during the movie.

In the whole of my life, I have only ever come across two other people who have seen the movie which is a sad fact, but does also make me feel special, like I'm in on a little glam rock secret that no one else knows about.

Velvet Goldmine was released in 1998 when the media didn't really know what to do with a film about men loving men and women and women loving women and men. Today, I can't help but feel, it would be a cult legend before it was even released.