Writing Activity: Describe A Street At Night

A MIDLAND TWILIGHT

The cloud-plumed afternoon has flown along the household street,
Leaf-shadows flicker. Freshly strown, the sprays whir. Far and fleet,
Hushed, furtive footsteps dodge and creep, and hunting voices call, 
"I spy," and "One, two, three for you," around the street's still hall.
The little winds of twilight blow. Upon the hop-scotch chaclk,
Home-turning footsteps come and go along the dappled walk.
The little winds of twilight blow closed flower and full-stirred tree;
And far and near a singing voice cries, "All sorts out in free!"
The cloud-plumed afternoon has flown, slow-winging, green and bright;
And all the dreams her hours have known turn with her toward the night --
Beyond that first cool snowdrop star above the roof-rimmed way.
Home and the night -- profound for me, and happy their wide grace
Thrills through the wind, the full-stirred tree, fleet game and white-starred space.
Deep by their ways may my soul live, as by her halidome,
Through all her cloud-plumed day-time hours: and when to my great home,
Home and the night, at last I come, so may it be for me:
Peace; in my heart, a fresh voice singing. "All sorts out in free."

by Edith Wyatt
(McClures Magazine 1909)

WRITE YOUR OWN

Pascal Campion You bring the drinks I’ll bring my guitar 1973
Pascal Campion, You bring the drinks I’ll bring my guitar, 1973
MAGAZINE THE POSTER MARCH 1926
City street in moonlight Louis Eilshemius (1864–1941)
night scene by Walter Sickert, corners of Cleveland Street, Maple Street and Southampton Street
Marianne von Werefkin (1860-1938), Russian, important in the German Expressionist movement
Christopher Nevinson, Soho (1924)
City by Night.’ (1946) Charles McCall, one of his Scottish street scenes
‘A Building by Moonlight.’ (1912) James Pryde
Old Edinburgh at Night (1883) Arthur Melville
The Metro at Night 1947 Augustin Rouart
‘A City by Night.’ (1946) Charles McCall, Scottish
View from Kattgrand, 1894 Eugène Jansson (Swedish, 1862-1915)
Lesser Ury – Nächtliche Strassenszene (Night street scene), c. 1915-20
Mortimer Menpes ‘A Little Shop in Chelsea,’ (possibly Tite Street) 1887
Ilonka Karasz (1896-1981) New Yorker cover December 15 1951
New Yorker magazine April 4 1953, Art by Charles E. Martin
Luigi Russolo (Italian, 1885-1947) Lampi (Flashes) 1909–1910
Paul Gustave Fischer (Danish, 1860-1934) Evening West Rampart Street, Copenhagen, 1919
Leningrad at Night. Painting by Alexander Semyonov, USSR, 1972
George Benjamin Luks. Bleeker and Carmine Streets, c.1915
George Copeland Ault (American, 1891 – 1948) Bright Light at Russell’s Corners (1946)
Paul Delvaux (1897–1994) - Le Vicinal
Paul Delvaux (1897–1994) – Le Vicinal
Konstantin Yuon, Russian, 1875-1958) Tversky Boulevard, 1909
Maurice Utrillo (1883 - 1955)
Maurice Utrillo (1883 – 1955)
Ralph Hulett (1915 – 1974) 1961 background illustration for Disney’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians
James Abbot McNeil Whistler, (1834-1903) Grey and Gold – Snow in Chelsea (1876)
Edouard Vuillard (1868-1940) Evening effect (darkened)
Paul Gustav Fischer (Danish, 1860-1934) Evening Street
Georges Stein (French, 1870-1930) Westminster Bridge at dusk, London, 1899
Atkinson Grimshaw – Whitby
Canny Glasgow [Scotland] (1887) by John Atkinson Grimshaw (GB, 1836-1893)
Canny Glasgow Scotland by John Atkinson Grimshaw (Great Britain, 1836-1893)
'Moonlight, Dovehouse Street, Chelsea.' (1928) Algernon Newton
‘Moonlight, Dovehouse Street, Chelsea.’ (1928) Algernon Newton
Tsuchiya Koitsu (1870 – 1949) ‘Snow At Nezu Shring’ 1950
Paris at Night (1889) by Charles Courtney Curran (American, 1861-1942)
Paris at Night (1889) by Charles Courtney Curran (American, 1861-1942)
Catherine of Corners by Irene Byers
Background painting by Bob Inman for Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962), dir. Abe Levitow, UPA street
Background painting by Bob Inman for Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962), dir. Abe Levitow, UPA street
Animation backgrounds from Disney’s 101 Dalmatians, 1961
NIEŁATWO BYĆ PSEM (1973) Maria Uszacka
NIEŁATWO BYĆ PSEM (1973) Maria Uszacka
Jongen bespiedt een man, Eddy de Smet, in or after 1947
Jongen bespiedt een man, Eddy de Smet, in or after 1947
Speakeasy Corner Martin Lewis
Syd Mead
Sheet music cover designed by Martini. 1917
Sheet music cover designed by Martini. 1917
David Klein (1918-2005) 1956 Travel Poster for TWA
Atkinson Grimshaw - Yew Court, Scalby
Atkinson Grimshaw – Yew Court, Scalby
Atkinson Grimshaw - Arriving at the Hall
Atkinson Grimshaw – Arriving at the Hall
‘Night Convoy’ (1947) William Scott
Raymond Peynet, French illustrator 1908-1999
Raymond Peynet, French illustrator 1908-1999
The Moon Singer by Clyde Robert Bulla, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman (1969)
The Moon Singer by Clyde Robert Bulla, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman (1969)
Adolph K. Kronengold night streets
Adolph K. Kronengold
André Poffé (Belgian, 1911 - 1990) Couple in the street at moonlight
André Poffé (Belgian, 1911 – 1990) Couple in the street at moonlight
Hickory Dickory Death by Agatha Christie cover illustration by Tom Adams night city street
Lesser Ury (1861- 1931) Nocturnal Street Scene, 1920
Hiroshi Yoshida (1876 - 1950), Flower Street After The Rain, 1929
Hiroshi Yoshida (1876 – 1950), Flower Street After The Rain, 1929
George Copeland Ault, 1891-1948, USA 'Black Night', 1943, WW2
George Copeland Ault, 1891-1948, USA ‘Black Night’, 1943, WW2
Greta-Hällfors-Sipilä-1899-1974-Night-1931
Greta Hällfors-Sipilä (1899 – 1974) Night, 1931
A Dean Cornwell illustration of an old man wearing sunglasses at night
Dean Cornwell
Dean Cornwell
Paul Gustav Fischer (1860-1934) Danish painter Copenhagen At Night
Robert Fawcett (1903 - 1967) 1950s illustration for 'Sherlock Holmes' in Collier's magazine
Robert Fawcett (1903 – 1967) 1950s illustration for ‘Sherlock Holmes’ in Collier’s magazine
Tsuchiya Koitsu, Teahouse, 1935
‘Headless Man In A Trenchcoat’ made with Wombo.art
CONTEMPORARY FICTION SET IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND (2023)

On paper, things look fine. Sam Dennon recently inherited significant wealth from his uncle. As a respected architect, Sam spends his days thinking about the family needs and rich lives of his clients. But privately? Even his enduring love of amateur astronomy is on the wane. Sam has built a sustainable-architecture display home for himself but hasn’t yet moved into it, preferring to sleep in his cocoon of a campervan. Although they never announced it publicly, Sam’s wife and business partner ended their marriage years ago due to lack of intimacy, leaving Sam with the sense he is irreparably broken.

Now his beloved uncle has died. An intensifying fear manifests as health anxiety, with night terrors from a half-remembered early childhood event. To assuage the loneliness, Sam embarks on a Personal Happiness Project:

1. Get a pet dog

2. Find a friend. Just one. Not too intense.

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