Leanne Cooper’s writing in Dark Days: Long Nights flows so easily and is immediately engaging.

Prose The River, my favourite piece in the book, with the lines ‘I stand upon the old wooden bridge overlooking the river’ and ‘how have I come to a point in my life where the thought of sacrificing myself to the icy waters seems preferable to continuing with my miserable existence?’

The narrator is hurt, in pain and defeated. They are cold and their thoughts are going around and around in their head. They are having that internal battle you have with yourself, to quit or continue. There are two swans on the water as scenery. The vulnerability, and honesty, in this piece of writing is outstanding.