tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74295822024-03-07T01:45:20.501-05:00SnoozeletsShort stories, poetry, haiku, expository and technical non-fiction. Report Cards and observations on writing. This began as my repository of exercises from the "What If?" self-help writers group at AOL. It has become more and less, since leaving AOL.Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-20772138429365239572014-05-14T14:51:00.001-04:002014-05-14T14:51:38.895-04:00Power Outage<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
Power Outage<br />
<br />
Sucking greedily for air not there,<br />
silence descending like a blanket of snow.<br />
No boom nor blast hearlds the lack,<br />
just panic attack as mortality seeps.<br />
<br />
Gone the hum of AC vibration over my head.<br />
No whine of CPAP in my ear,<br />
the hiss of exhalations silenced.<br />
Wife, too, silently regards me above her breathing mask,<br />
Now sucking greedily for air, mask discarded in disgust.<br />
<br />
Two words her condemnation, disgust contorting normally placid features ...<br />
"Fix it!" -- While the black monster of aphyxia ascends.<br />
I will live another day.<br />
<br />
First, the hop, jump, trip and fall<br />
brief interlude to my shorts hiked above knees.<br />
Check the cable at the wall.<br />
Plug mates deeply with socket; no leakage there.<br />
<br />
A trip into the house next reveals<br />
they, too, are powerless.<br />
Not surprising, only felines exude power,<br />
the freezer stubbornly silent, ice maker motionless.<br />
<br />
Back to my trailer, hovel, home,<br />
I stare at the neighbors' home<br />
for signs of electrical activity ... no air,<br />
no cheerless housewife a slave to her range.<br />
<br />
Firing up battery-powered gizmos,<br />
soon the Internets beckon from DC heaven<br />
summoning information,<br />
Demco-style.<br />
<br />
Alas, a map, clear delineation of our plight,<br />
robbed of the exchange of electrons to drive<br />
entertainment ridden visions of the rumors<br />
that pass for "News" these days.<br />
<br />
It is, indeed, a failure of power,<br />
even her "sweet baaboo" cannot fix.<br />
Despondancy. Depression. Hunger. Anger.<br />
All on hold until the electrical genie returns.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
That's how my morning started. I hope yours was better.<br />
</div>
Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-2248405641332538252010-12-19T18:02:00.004-05:002010-12-19T18:17:42.865-05:00Season's Greetings, 2010<span style="font-size:130%;">Snow sparkles in front of me<br />as dog snuffles his way to nasal nirvana<br />in the chill evening. Grass tufts, here a rabbit,<br />there be wolves, ready to pounce.<br /><br />Moon rising above the neighbor's trees<br />throw long shadows clear across the road to me.<br />A full moon, its icy reflection a frigid echo<br />of the ice in my heart.<br /><br />Lonely is just a state of mind, alone a way of life.<br />Live life to its fullest, for tomorrow<br />may be no more in your experience.<br />And so it goes.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br />(Written quickly in the Airstream trailer, parked at the Farm in Maine. SWMBO was in Louisiana tending a very sick son. I was alone, listening to 7 hours of Leonard Cohen. I'd just walked the dog and peed on the snow. A nearly-full moon rising behind me, the steam rising from my pee casting wispy shadows across the snow. And so it goes...)</span>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-12155924117587430412008-10-14T23:30:00.001-04:002008-10-14T23:32:13.787-04:00On Birthdays...<p><b>Time Marches On</b><br />or<br /><b>It Sure Beats the Alternative</b></p> <p>It’s hell, they say, when you get old.<br />Your toenails all are caked with mold,<br />Or maybe other kinds of fungus.<br />It’s hard to breathe with ancient lungus.<br />All bloodshot are your rheumy eyes,<br />All weak and stringy are your thighs.<br />Your pancreas is stiff and sore,<br />And buttocks droop towards the floor.<br />With exercise, your muscles ache,<br />It feels like all your bones will break.<br />You day by day get soft and flabby,<br />Your disposition loutish, crabby.<br />Digestion, once a simple task,<br />Becomes a chore (and please, <i>don’t</i> ask.)<br />Shoulder joints all get bursitis.<br />Your bladder wakes you up at nightis.<br />Your backbone gives you many pains.<br />Increasingly sieve-like grow your brains,<br />Until you cannot keep in mind<br />that “<i>this</i> is your elbow, <i>that</i>’s your behind”:<br />Getting old, it is not kind.</p> But whene’er these thoughts go thro’ my head,<br />I think: “It sure beats being dead.”Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-58597734747498889172007-04-23T04:03:00.001-04:002007-04-23T04:17:44.223-04:00A Plethora of Words for Free<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><br />Today, April 23, is the very first <b><a href="http://www.scalzi.com/whatever/005060.html">International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day</a></b> and it is being celebrated the world over with an outpouring of free words by (primarily) science fiction authors in reaction to a <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/sfwa/10039.html">viciously stupid rant</a> by current Science Fiction Writers of America Vice-President Professor Howard V. Hendrix.<br /><br />It's a tempest in a teacup and I applaud this constructive method of poking fun at Herr Doktor Hendrix. Check out the link to John Scalzi's <a href="http://www.scalzi.com/whatever/005060.html">blog entry</a> -- there's a pleasant surprise awaiting you.</div>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-80007132120956121692007-04-10T06:39:00.000-04:002007-04-23T04:22:56.875-04:00Food For ThoughtVia A <a href="http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html">Word A Day</a> comes this quote:<br /><blockquote style="font-family:lucida grande;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of<br />morality by religion. -- Sir Arthur C Clarke, science fiction writer (1917- )</span></blockquote>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-4420441946876974892007-03-12T17:08:00.000-04:002007-03-12T17:09:44.250-04:00MEME: ScienceFiction Book Club List<p>Here, via <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/03/uh_yeah_i_guess_i_do_read_some.php">Pharyngula</a>, then <a href="http://journals.aol.ca/plittle/AuroraWalkingVacation/entries/2007/03/12/required-reading/2288">Paul Little</a>, is a list of the "<a href="http://tikistitch.livejournal.com/570773.html">Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years</a>" first issued by the <a href="http://www.sfbc.com/doc/content/sitelets/FSE_Sitelet_Theme_2.jhtml?SID=nmsfctop50">Science Fiction Book Club</a>. Put the ones you've read in bold. My list is below. I've adopted Paul's convention of bolding those I have read, italicizing the ones I ought to read and striking through the ones I'm not likely to ever read. Leave a comment how this shapes up with your reading experience.</p> <p><b>The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien<br />The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov<br />Dune, Frank Herbert<br />Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein<br />A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin<br />Neuromancer, William Gibson<br />Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke<br />Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick<br />The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley<br />Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury<br />The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe<br />A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.<br />The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov<br /></b><i>Children of the Atom,</i> Wilmar Shiras<br /><b>Cities in Flight, James Blish<br />The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett<br />Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison<br /></b><span style=""><i>Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison</i></span><b><br />The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester<br />Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany<br />Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey<br />Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card<br />The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson<br />The Forever War, Joe Haldeman<br />Gateway, Frederik Pohl<br /></b><span style=""><span style="font-style: normal;"><strike>Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling</strike></span><i> [But I am currently reading the Order of the Phoenix and the Half-Blood Prince awaits the completion of Phoenix]</i></span><b><br />The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams<br /></b><span style=""><strike>I Am Legend, Richard Matheson</strike></span><b><br />Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice<br />The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin<br /></b><span style=""><i>Little, Big, John Crowley</i></span><b><br />Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny<br />The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick<br /></b><span style=""><i>Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement</i></span><b><br /></b><span style=""><i>More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon</i></span><b><br /></b><i>The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith</i><br /><b>On the Beach, Nevil Shute<br />Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke<br />Ringworld, Larry Niven<br /></b><strike>Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys</strike><br /><b>The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien<br />Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut<br />Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson<br /></b><span style=""><i>Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner</i></span><b><br />The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester<br />Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein<br /></b><span style=""><i>Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock (But I have read John Barnes' Mother Of All Storms)</i></span><b><br /></b>The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks [a series I just couldn't get into, no matter how hard my then g/f tried to involve me]<br /><b>Timescape, Gregory Benford<br />To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer</b></p> <p>I've read 38 out of 50, a testament to my reading habits. Several of the books up there shouldn't be there, in my not so humble opinion, while other, important volumes are missing. Isn't that the way? And only fifty! Surely, if the members of the Book Club put their collective minds in gear, they could come up with an even one hundred, don't you think? After all, where's Spider and Jeanne Robinson? Piers Anthony? Margret Atwood? John Varley? Kate Wilhelm?</p>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-68240089388901027652007-02-22T02:00:00.000-05:002007-02-22T02:04:11.684-05:00Super Mom Saves The WorldAn author I am very fond of (no, not THAT way), Melanie Lynn Hauser, has just announced the immanent publication of her second book. Read for yourself:<br /><br /><p align="left"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >The sequel to <a style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451218566?ie=UTF8&tag=mellynhauaut-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0451218566" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"><strong>Confessions of Super Mom</strong></span></a> ships in just a few days! <a style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451220366?ie=UTF8&tag=mellynhauaut-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0451220366" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"><strong>Super Mom Saves The World</strong></a> picks up the story of Birdie Lee, divorced mother, PTA lackey, and accidental superhero. It's six months after the <strong>Horrible Swiffer Accident</strong> that turned her into Super Mom, and she's still adjusting. For starters, she's having lustful thoughts about Mr. Clean. Then there's the fact that her teenaged daughter is suddenly sporting a bright pink streak in her hair. Her nerdy scientist love interest has just proposed marriage, at the exact same time her ex-husband starts making overtures. And to top it all off, the town of Astro Park has gotten Little League fever in a big - you might even say <em>explosive</em> - way...but as soon as Super Mom comes to the rescue, it's apparent someone wants her out of the game. For good.</span></p> <blockquote dir="ltr" style="margin-right: 0px;"> <p align="left"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >"Hauser's sequel to <i>Confessions of Super Mom</i> (2005) is an amusing and sharp critique of the thankless job mothers perform as they juggle home and work. Every mom will want to be Super Mom." - <em>Booklist</em></span></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><a style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.melanielynnehauser.com/?dah=nl" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"><strong>Read first chapter of both novels.</strong></a></span></p>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-62048898224749681172007-02-09T22:11:00.000-05:002007-01-07T20:33:51.737-05:00The Real DealGo <a href="http://www.citylights.com/beat/LF/CLLFtotal.html">here</a>. Read what a real Master Poet can do with words. Rejoice.<br /><blockquote><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: bold;">Totalitarian Democracy</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Lawrence Ferlinghetti</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">"The first fine dawn of life on earth</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">The first light of the first morning</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">The first evening star</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">The first man on the moon seen from afar</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">The first voyage of Ulysses westward</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">The first fence on the last frontier</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">The first tick of the atomic clock of fear</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">The first Home Sweet Home so dear</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">The sweet smell of honeysuckle at midnight</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">The first free black man free of fright</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">The sweet taste of freedom</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">The first good orgasm<br />..."</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">This Excerpt </span><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);font-size:85%;" ><a set="yes" href="http://www.citylights.com/index.html"><img src="http://www.citylights.com/beat/CLlogoP.gif" border="0" height="25" width="25" /></a><br /> </span> <p style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"><span style="font-size:85%;">Copyright © 2004 City Lights Books</span></p></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"></div>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-5074132697636264232007-01-07T20:32:00.000-05:002007-01-07T20:33:51.395-05:00The Last Ten Books<p><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS, cursive;">I saw this over at Patrick's </span><a href="http://astopatwilloughby.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS, cursive;">A Stop At Willoughby</span></a><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS, cursive;"> and I liked it enough to copy it. Basically, here's the last ten books I remember purchasing and why I bought them. </span> </p> <ol><li><p><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS, cursive;"><i>The Order of the Phoenix</i> by J.K. Rowling – I actually bought this after buying <i>Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince</i>, starting it, then realizing I'd skipped (missed) one of the books. Stupid me. Lucky for Scholastic Book Services (the publisher). Why? To speak with two of my grandmonsters who are absolutely absorbed in all things Harry Potter, that's why.</span></p> </li><li><p><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS, cursive;"><i>Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> by J.K. Rowling – because the media hype was so thick in the USA and the prices so low at introduction, I couldn't pass it up. Plus the need to be conversant with the subject matter if I am to have any hope of holding scintillating conversations with aforesaid grandmonsters.</span></span></p> </li><li><p style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS, cursive;"><i>Micah</i> by Laurell K. Hamilton – because I was hoping that Ms. Hamilton hadn't completely sold out and was still capable of telling a story without falling back on fornication every three pages. Alas and alack. And a lack, too.</span></p> </li><li><p style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS, cursive;"><i>Great American Rail Journeys</i> by John Grant – I'm a nut about trains, I loved the PBS series which this is a companion volume to, I love scenic photography, and the discounted remaindered price of $4.00 wasn't bad, either...</span></p> </li><li><p style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS, cursive;"><i>Mastering The Art Of Drawing</i> by Ian Sidaway & Sarah Hoggett – Because I try, every now and again, to awaken any semblance of the artist's genes coursing through my blood. Unsuccessfully, I might add. But, some fool once said, “Hope springs eternal.” Who am I to argue?</span></p> </li><li><p style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS, cursive;"><i>Beautiful Losers</i> by Leonard Cohen – I used to own a first edition of this, but someone decided they needed it more than me. So this was a replacement and a rereading. I enjoyed it even more this time around.</span></p> </li><li><p style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS, cursive;">Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen – He's one of my favorite singer-song writers and I have been purchasing and reading his poetry for forty years. This, his latest.</span></p> </li><li><p style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS, cursive;"><i>Old Man's War</i> by John M. Scalzi – the premise of this novel intrigued me: old folks, after a long and varied life, sign up to fight for the continuation of society off in theater of war far from the home planet. New Body, new skills, no way home. </span> </p> </li><li><p style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS, cursive;"><i>The Ghost Brigades</i> by John M. Scalzi – I liked OMW enough to spring for this one, too. I want the final book in this series, too! Yes I do...</span></p> </li><li><p style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS, cursive;">Dead As A Doornail by Charlaine Harris – I love the Sookie Stackhouse, Southern Vampire series by Ms. Harris. That said, this was just one more nail in my coffin...</span></p> </li></ol> <p style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS, cursive;">There you have ten of the books I bought in 2006. There's about twenty more that didn't make the list, but who's counting?</span></p>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-17991774785419358382007-01-03T16:11:00.000-05:002007-01-03T16:14:04.975-05:00A Great Word: Tohubohu<blockquote>tohubohu (TOH-hoo-BO-hoo) noun<br /><br /> Chaos; confusion.<br /><br />[From Hebrew tohu wa-bhohu, from tohu (formlessness) and bhohu (emptiness).]<br /><br />-Anu Garg (garg <a href="http://wordsmith.org/" target="_blank">wordsmith.org</a>) <br /><br /></blockquote>Now isn't that slicker than greased owl shit?Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-84958481465154178762007-01-01T18:41:00.000-05:002007-01-01T18:43:21.155-05:00Happy New Year!I'm not one for resolutions, but I have decided to make an effort at posting more writing and writing related entries here in 2007. Wish me luck!Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-31621332835135097212007-01-01T18:38:00.000-05:002007-01-01T18:44:41.547-05:00Definitely Limericks...Stumbled upon a great new find, <blockquote>"the <a set="yes" href="http://www.oedilf.com/">Omnificent English Dictionary in English Form</a>, a magnificent, ambitious, and slightly insane attempt to write a limerick for every word in the English language, one letter group at a time."</blockquote><br /><br />Here's a sample:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">A cow nibbles nettles herbivorously.<br />A bear gobbles cattle carnivorously.<br />A babe in a cot’ll<br />Drink milk from a bottle.<br />A man eats the lottle—omnivorously. </div>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-50016353024840221112006-12-26T12:45:00.000-05:002006-12-26T12:57:51.837-05:00Christmas Book MemeFind the nearest book you got for Christmas.<br />Turn to page 123.<br />Go to the fifth sentence on the page.<br />Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.<br />Name the book and the author, and tag three more folks.<br /><br /><blockquote>Leaving the canyons, the train heads toward the coastal plain, passing through some of the most fertile agricultural areas in the nation. At Oxnard, the hub of this rich agricultural district, the train dashes north through the scenic valley. Crossing the Santa Clara River on a long trestle, you arrive at Ventura, named for the eighteenth century mission, Santa Buenaventura Mission, which stands just to the right of the tracks.</blockquote>Actually page 122 -- there's a full page photo on 123 of John Grant's <span style="font-style: italic;">Great American Rail Journeys.</span><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span>Tag yourself if you wish to play along... do me the honor of a comment so I may view your selection.<br /><br />Happy Boxing Day!<br /><br /><br />Via <a href="http://ivyai.blogspot.com/2006/12/mini-meme-find-nearest-book.html">Ivy</a><br /></span></div></div></div></div></div>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-1155104300215763712006-08-09T02:18:00.000-04:002006-08-09T02:21:47.640-04:00What Kind of Writer?<p>Via Bright Selene's <a href="http://aesthetic-vibes.blogspot.com/">Aesthetic Vibrations</a> comes this quiz. Sharing the same answer, despite the enormous difference in our ages , is a pleasure.</p><br /><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="350"><tbody><tr><td bg="" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" align="center"><br /><span style=";font-family:Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,serif;font-size:14;color:black;" ><strong>You Should Be a Science Fiction Writer</strong><br /></span></td></tr><br /><tr><td bgcolor="#cccccc"><br /><center><img src="http://images.blogthings.com/whattypeofwritershouldyoubequiz/sci-fi.jpg" height="100" width="100" /></center><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />Your ideas are very strange, and people often wonder what planet you're from.<br /><br />And while you may have some problems being "normal," you'll have no problems writing sci-fi.<br /><br />Whether it's epic films, important novels, or vivid comics...<br /><br />Your own little universe could leave an important mark on the world!<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whattypeofwritershouldyoubequiz/">What Type of Writer Should You Be?</a></div>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-1153918441835989872006-07-26T08:50:00.000-04:002006-07-26T08:54:01.886-04:00Once there were three<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:180%;"></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Once there were three,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">brothers all, stepping stones,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">sailor suits and Easter caps,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">doting grandparents,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">proud papa patronizing, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">harried, harridan mother.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Pictures exist.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Suddenly the matriarchal patriarch was gone,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">silenced, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">felled, sequoia-like,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">by a weak heart,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">over-work, heat stress</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">and weak genes.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The three brothers grew gangly,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">all kneesles and elbows,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">home in the country, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">roaming field and forest,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">mighty conquerors of fishing lures,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"> <span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">steel traps and arithmetic.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Questing minds sought answers </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">to insect riddles and clouds,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">sand, sea and surf; idyllic times.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">A badly broken turkey leg and endless urinals</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">foretell a life of ill-health and struggle for one;</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">broken wings and shed skins </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">an abiding love of all creatures, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">great and small, for the little one.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Senior-most scouts the way, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">but never finds the path.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">A president felled in the prime of life, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">while a mother returns from near-death</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">in New York City(!) </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">heralds the beginning of the end for Momma.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Mexican moves bring unexpected trouble,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">seizure disorders in one, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">ulcerations and tribulations for the matriarch,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">falling into death so suddenly, it seemed.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">But all the signs were there to the hindsight view.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Great upheavals, what's a father to do? </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Raise three boys alone?</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Seventy years young grandmothers lack the strength,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">their own griefs to nurse and nurture.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Halt, lame, one-eyed – no, the red-hats</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">must focus inwards on their own dates with death,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">only a few years hence.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Remarry? With grief so fresh? </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Not likely.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Not wanted.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Free.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Free at last.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Or so he thought...</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Puberty, unbeknownst to a distant pater,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">takes one after another, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">wrecking havoc with concentration,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">giving grief a terrible strength and depth</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">hitherto undreamed of,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">causing sleepless nights, torn sheets,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">rending great forests of tissue </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">as relief is sought in onanistic release and </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">deep plunges into the troubled waters </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">of bourbon and branch.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The three went their separate ways after</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">the eldest graduated to college in Vermont;</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">middleman to seminary; </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">baby brother atop The Hill,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Barcelona, European travels</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">and Greyhound travails,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">knocking up fallen angels.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center">“<span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Tune in, turn on, drop out” Leary said.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">It's the 'dawning of the age of Aquarius' sang another,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">mud was epiphany at Yasgar's farm,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Hendrix setting the world afire by guitar.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Dylan the voice for a disaffected generation of ne'er do wells,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Vietnam, a very public private hell.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Old friends dead, Martin, John and Bobby.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The times, they are a changin'.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Stuck, was the eldest, head in a bottle,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">but the view was clear, so he proceeded</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">as though nothing was wrong,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">for nothing is wrong </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">when you can see the strait and narrows, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">is it?</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">College graduate, medical school, extern, intern,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Bellevue hell and Veteran's Administration horrors,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">all stuck out, inch by bloody inch, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">despite every considerable obstacle placed in his path,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">until only his own body could torpedo his success.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Bombs away! Full steam ahead! There lies madness:</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">abandon all hope, ye who enter therein.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Medicine didn't kill him, bloody-mindedness did.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">And a cruel streak a mile wide,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">passing for caring in a careless society. </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">And a weak heart, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">another genetic legacy </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">in a body already blessed with </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">more genetic misadventures than any two people</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">should have to endure.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">So it didn't.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Then there were two. </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Baby boy blue,come blow your horn, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">sheep's in the meadow, pigs in the corn.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Lose your family through shameful neglect, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">head in a bottle, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Wasn't THAT stupid?</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Almost as bad, baby brother,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">working all hours, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">all week, all weekend, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">for next to no money and major headaches</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">designing logos,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center">“<span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Three ducks fucking” and bouncy basketballs.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">What do you get? </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Another day older, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">deeper in debt</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"> <span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">and a stent in your chest.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">That's what baby brother discovered.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">After the big crash and burn,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">the family elder, clean and sober, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">and miserable as hell,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">put nose to grindstone </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">and drowned his sorrows in work.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Discovered you can't go home </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">to old loves and older lovers.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Meanwhile, the artistic one builds his strength, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">bides his time through a period of</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">outrageous slings and arrows of </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">employment misfortunes</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">but finally sees the light, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">tells the Robber Baron to “get fucked” </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">and gets on with being an adult web master</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">(whatever the fuck THAT is).</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Making more money, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">than he'd ever dreamed possible, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">he set new rules,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">rules of moderation.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center">“<span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Works all well and good and I like it a lot ...”</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center">“<span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">But play time is good, too.” </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Weekdays for Mammon, weekends for fun.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">That was his plan and he was sticking to it.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Then “dumbass” -- the elder, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">having married again, despite cautions to the contrary,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">suddenly discovers that </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">mended broken hearts aren't something you can count on.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Who knew?</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Open-heart coronary by-pass grafts times three later,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">and he emerges a new, old man,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">one lung along for the ride,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">sleepless in “Sandman Land.”</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">But dodging the bullet, given reprieve,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">able to breathe and take nourishment.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Just breathing can be a gift some days.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">But life is inexorable.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">God is an Iron.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Mother Nature gives neither</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">hoot nor holler</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">if you live or die.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">One hot, muggy summer afternoon,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">much like his namesake,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">baby boy leaned too far, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">fell over dead in his office;</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">And then there was one.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center">“<span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">One is the lonliest number that you'll ever do.<br />Two can be as bad as one, </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">it's the lonliest number since the number one...” </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">This little piggy is going wee, wee, wee,</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">all the way home...</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">For once there were three.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Then there were two.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Now there's only one.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">This is going to end badly, I fear...</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">~~~</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="center"><br /></p><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Copyright ©2006</span></span><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> All rights reserved.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Note, this is a work in progress, subject to change and modification.</span><br /></span></span>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-1151047503633446192006-06-23T03:24:00.000-04:002006-06-23T03:25:03.650-04:00Gee, isn't that so-and-so?<p><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);"><img style="width: 325px; height: 82px;" src="http://hometown.aol.com/Auriel%20Alata/WWQ6.jpg" name="graphics1" align="bottom" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><br /><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;"><b><u><i>Writer's Weekly Question # 20:<br /><br /></i></u></b>Have you ever created a character based on someone you know? Was it because you liked the person, or disliked the person? How was the character different or like the person you based him or her on?<br /></span></span></span><br /><br /></p> <p style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;"><span style="font-size:130%;">I suspect many of my characters have bits and pieces of people I have known. But, due to liability issues, I have consciously decided to never base a character on an actual person. So much easier to be able to explain in a deposition that the characters spring full blown into my imagination and onto the page rather than argue which trait is or isn't something that Johnny Doe is known to exhibit on occasion.</span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. If I were to create a character based on an actual person, it would be in a satire, the person portrayed would probably be someone I dislike, and the effect sought would be vilification. For instance, a story about Vice President Dick Cheney hunting liberals on his game farm in Montana and accidentally shooting a conservative lawyer in the face.</span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Nah -- nobody would believe that one...</span></span></p>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-1150280217656490072006-06-14T06:16:00.000-04:002006-06-14T19:56:18.080-04:00Poem For Alysia<p><b><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For Alysia</span></span></b> </p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">A moment in time,</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">never to be recalled.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">A sunny, dimpled smile, </span> </p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">extinguished in a moment of inattention.</span></p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">A family, destroyed.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">A mother heart-broken,</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">A father shamed, guilt-wracked, haunted,</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">A marriage annihilated,</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">a baby's light snuffed out.</span></p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">We weep for you, dear child,</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">for the possibilities now gone,</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">your laugh now silent,</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">for what might have been.</span></p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">For your father, strength I offer,</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">to endure those long, cold, lonely nights</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">that lie ahead; </span> </p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">hours of self-doubt and self-recrimination,</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">a slippery slope to despair, hopelessness, </span> </p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">drunkenness and death.</span></p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">For your mother, a benediction, </span> </p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">a salve upon her broken heart</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">and strength, too, to go on, </span> </p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">as a mother must, </span> </p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">broken heart and all.</span></p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">To your brother and sister, </span> </p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">surcease I offer,</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">sweet dreams, </span> </p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">where only nightmares </span> </p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">now dare to tread.</span></p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">To the world, </span> </p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">only a memory</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">invoked by a head stone,</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">gray granite,</span></p> <p>“<span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">Alysia Brown,</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">Aged 3,</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua,serif;">Rest In Peace.”</span></p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>Copyright <span style="font-family:Times New Roman,serif;">©</span>2006 Wil Mosher</p> <p>All Rights Reserved</p><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=135755">Carmel girl, 3, drowns in family pool - Bangornews.com Staff</a>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-1149411347885539692006-06-04T04:55:00.000-04:002006-06-04T04:57:06.926-04:00Writer's Weekly Question #18:<p><a href="http://journals.aol.com/aurielalata/CIWTheOtherInvisible/"><img src="http://hometown.aol.com/Auriel%20Alata/WWQ6.jpg" name="HTTP://JOURNALS.AOL.COM/AURIELALATA/CIWTHEOTHERINVISIBLE/" align="left" border="0" height="70" width="300" /><br /></a><br /><br /></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b><u><i><br /></i></u></b></span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b><u><i>Writer's Weekly Question #18:<br /></i></u>Have you ever had an experience where someone tried to trick you into believing that something big was about to happen to your writing, when in fact, they were taking you on what could be a huge ride? This can include a contest, an agent, a publisher, or anyone. </b></span></span></span> </p> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Yes, <i>I</i> do it to myself, every time I finish a poem or a short story. Then, because I know better these days, I file said oeuvre away for a week or ten and then reread. That's the real revelation. I can see in the clear light of day the piece isn't anywhere near as good as first imagined. Into the circular file it goes... </b></span></span></span> </p> <p><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>You can participate in the “Writer's Weekly Question by clicking on the banner above and doing your homework. It's fun, it's thought provoking and often infuriating. You might even learn something (Horrors!)</b></span></span></span></p>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-1148680341842476152006-05-26T17:52:00.000-04:002006-05-26T17:52:21.916-04:00Looking for an Agent?Good advice and a list of the most heinous offenders from the <a href="http://www.sfwa.org/org/">Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Inc</a>.:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.sfwa.org/beware/twentyworst.html">Warnings and Cautions for Writers--Writer Beware's 20 Worst Agencies List</a>: "Below is a list of the 20 literary agencies about which Writer Beware has received the greatest number of advisories/complaints over the past several years."<br />{snip}<br />"<span style="font-size:-1;"> Note that while the 20 agencies listed here account for the bulk of the complaints we receive, they're just the tip of the iceberg. Writer Beware has files on nearly 400 questionable agencies, and we learn about a new one every few weeks."<br /> <br /> </span> <ul><span style="font-size:-1;"><li>The Abacus Group Literary Agency</li> <li>Allred and Allred Literary Agents (refers clients to "book doctor" Victor West of Pacific Literary Services)</li> <li style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Barbara Bauer Literary Agency</li> <li>Benedict Associates (also d/b/a B.A. Literary Agency)</li> <li>Sherwood Broome, Inc.</li> <li><span style="font-size:-1;">Capital Literary Agency (formerly American Literary Agents of Washington, Inc.)</span></li> <li>Desert Rose Literary Agency</li> <li>Arthur Fleming Associates</li> <li>Finesse Literary Agency (Karen Carr)</li> <li>Brock Gannon Literary Agency</li> <li>Harris Literary Agency</li> <li>The Literary Agency Group, which includes the following:<br />-Children's Literary Agency<br />-Christian Literary Agency<br />-New York Literary Agency<br />-Poets Literary Agency<br />-The Screenplay Agency<br />-Stylus Literary Agency (formerly ST Literary Agency, formerly Sydra-Techniques)<br />-Writers Literary & Publishing Services Company (the editing arm of the above-mentioned agencies)</li> <li>Martin-McLean Literary Associates</li> <li>Mocknick Productions Literary Agency, Inc.</li> <li>B.K. Nelson, Inc.</li> <li>The Robins Agency (Cris Robins)</li> <li>Michele Rooney Literary Agency (also d/b/a Creative Literary Agency, Simply Nonfiction, and Michele Glance Rooney Literary Agency)</li> <li>Southeast Literary Agency</li> <li>Mark Sullivan Associates</li> <li>West Coast Literary Associates (also d/b/a California Literary Services)</li> </span></ul> <span style="font-size:-1;"> </span>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-1145305753172726532006-04-17T16:19:00.000-04:002007-04-28T22:09:42.602-04:00<p><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Poem for Pamela</b></span></p> <p><b>April 16, 2006</b></p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>She was lying on the floor </p> <p>where he lay her down in panic</p> <p>calling frantic for help,</p> <p>“9-1-1, what is your emergency?”</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>They stood in clusters.</p> <p>Paramedics dressed in blue polos,</p> <p>stethoscopes around their necks,</p> <p>looking down at her in pity.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>Former family, another bunch, </p> <p>a fine, strapping young man,</p> <p>guilt-ridden, sobbing quietly, </p> <p>step-mother holding him in his grief.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>Her ex-husband, cold, uncomfortable</p> <p>addressing the medics as brothers in toil,</p> <p>thanking them for coming, for nothing,</p> <p>The son did it all. </p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>CPR, two by fifteen,</p> <p>breathing, beating, her soul's sole link to life</p> <p>as sirens scream from down the road,</p> <p>death gurgling back at him.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>Black fear had gripped his heart </p> <p>as she broke under his loving weight,</p> <p>ribs cracking, lungs crackling wrongness</p> <p>where once was right.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>She was well and truly dead,</p> <p>my dear, suffering friend.</p> <p>No amount of wishing or weeping</p> <p>will bring her back again.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>Meanwhile, I sat on the sofa,</p> <p>talking with my wife,</p> <p>commenting on her prolonged silence,</p> <p>indications of the end so near.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>Little did I know, even less could I understand,</p> <p>She'd come to me, said good-bye,</p> <p>as she shut down, circuit by circuit,</p> <p>Despite the efforts of love to save her...</p><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p> <p> </p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:78%;">In loving memory of <a href="http://journals.aol.co.uk/his1desire/JustOneGirlsHeadNoiseUK/">Pamela Hilger</a>, April 10, 1956 ~ April 16, 2006.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:78%;">With sincere condolences and respect to her son and daughter and those who loved her well.</span></p><br /><br /><br /><br />Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/His1desire" rel="tag">His1desire</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/pamela+hilger" rel="tag">Pamela Hilger</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/remembering+pam" rel="tag">Remembering Pam</a>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-1144541784646124792006-04-08T20:00:00.000-04:002006-04-08T20:28:01.116-04:00Der Windvinder<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1977/457/1600/windvinder-foto005.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1977/457/200/windvinder-foto005.jpg" alt="Photo of The Wind Finder (Der Windvinder)" border="0" /></a><br /><p><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>Der Windvinder</i></span></p> <p><br /><br />Set off on the sea of dreams, </p> <p>Me at the helm, </p> <p>You, in your swimming togs,</p> <p>leaning against the mast,</p> <p>ducking the giant blade aiming for your skull,</p> <p>thrice with every revolution of <i>Der Windvinder</i>.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>The wind in your hair, </p> <p>streaming out like seaweed on the tide,</p> <p>kelpish fronds waving to me as they beat about your eyes;</p> <p>Taut nipples straining against the fabric of your top,</p> <p>I feel a fire down below, slowly rising and falling </p> <p>with the beat of my heart.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>Light as a feather, we windmill our way,</p> <p>beating to eastward, into the waves,</p> <p>spray drenching you now,</p> <p>huddled in the cockpit</p> <p>Yellow slicker grasped tightly for warmth,</p> <p>As thrill turns to chill.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>But squalls are short-lived,</p> <p>And rain goes away,</p> <p>As Der Windvinder makes haste </p> <p>around the mark and begins her downwind leg,</p> <p>blades spinning gaily in the returning sun,</p> <p>pushing us home to hearth and hearts aglow. </p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>Home again, home from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuiderzee">Zuiderzee</a>, now the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IJsselmeer">Ijsselmeer</a>, </p> <p>as the triumphant sailors wend their way from from the sea,</p> <p>hot blood flowing in their veins, enervated, horny, exhilarated.</p> <p>There's going to be a hot time in the Old Port tonight,</p> <p>home again to hot cider and hot toddies and hot lust, my hot Momma and me.</p> <p>Home again, home again, home from the sea.</p> <p>Der Windvinder, and me.</p><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">This is a work in progress and subject to revision as the mood strikes. I blame the inspiration for this piece on my friend Gerrit Bosman and <a href="http://gabosman2.blogspot.com/2006/03/de-windvinder.html">this entry</a> on his poetry blog, <a href="http://gabosman2.blogspot.com/">Rhyme, poetry, limericks, haiku and more word stuff</a>. It is <span style="font-weight: bold;">NOT a translation</span>. Trust me on that. His lovely Helen may have "taut nipples" but he isn't allowed to talk about it. She'd beat him to a pulp for even mentioning it. The photograph and the information on Der Windvinder are available <a href="http://www.windvinder.nl/">here</a>.</span></span>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-1143882517826019032006-04-01T04:07:00.000-05:002006-04-01T04:08:37.846-05:00Poetry Meme: Where I'm From<div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Where I'm From</b></span></span></div> <p><span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;">I am from the crumbs of Wonder Bread (“Builds Strong Bodies Twelve Ways”), from Smucker's Strawberry Jam and Chunky peanut butter. </span> </p> <p><span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;">I'm from fish sticks, tuna wiggle, hamburgers and hot dogs and raw milk on my oatmeal.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;">I am from the one bedroom, third story apartment near the Watergate Hotel, love nest of a May-December marriage. </span> </p> <p><span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;">I'm from the “gruesome twosome” then the “terrifying threesome.” Sunday mornings were reserved for “Fight to The Finish” in my father's bed – a hard way to be roused from a much needed rest.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;">I am from the hemlocks blowing in the breeze, the home of a coven of crows intent on murder. I have granite in my head and cedars in my heart. “Hidebound” is most often transliterated to “rockbound” in my presence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;">I come from stern forbears with big noses, from Stuarts and Holts, from Frickes and Dorothy and Samuel B. Morse. </span> </p> <p><span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;">I am from the sailors and artists conjoined in the snow. Welsh men and Irish women, English and French. American Indian and French Canadian.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;">From an eight years old chef and a hot mama pilot on Capitol Airlines. </span> </p> <p><span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;">I am from Methodist Deacons and lapsed Anglicans. I shun deities and spit religion out on the ground for good with my pacifier.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;">I'm from Irish mothers, Anglo-Saxons, Alsatians, and Beserkers from Annapolis; I eat the cockroaches of the sea and ooze whiskey from my pores. </span> </p> <p><span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;">I am partly of the man whose shorts filled with petrol. Descendant of Aunt Townsend, who spent a winter in the Maine woods with two small children, burning whole trees for warmth and hacking away at the frozen moose in the shed until May when the maggots got too thick; the nephew of the robber baron of plastic Mouse Houses™ stealing his mother blind in one eye, and the grandson of the saddest nice man in town (“Why can't you be more like HIM?”). </span> </p> <p><span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;">I am from the frozen north, abandoned, if only temporarily, by all who grew here to adulthood; failed steward of the farm, subject to the adoration of Willow the Wunderhund and a dozen cats, give or take the road kill.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;">I am a survivor ... of strange men with knives in their teeth and guns in their hands, of stranger men in white coats with knives in their hands carving my heartbreak in my open chest, broken and breathless, of dead progenitors and their mates, orphaned late but hating it the same.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;">I am secure in the love of a Southern Belle with a fiery temper and sharp-toothed tongue who's fond of cuddles. April Fools are we.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;">I am from a long line who stop with me.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Courier New, monospace;">I am ... but I won't be before so long, but not too soon.</span></p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;">I learned about this from <a href="http://wdwd.blogspot.com/2006/03/where-im-from.html">Junebugg</a>. She got it from <a href="http://lifedroppings.blogspot.com/2006/03/where-im-from.html">Donna</a>, who swiped it from <a href="http://texastrifles.blogspot.com/2005/02/where-im-from.html">Cowpie Patty</a>. It started <a href="http://www.swva.net/fred1st/wif.htm">here</a> and that is where you can find the template with instructions on how to do this. And you are most welcome to play along. Please do, and let me know where I can find out where you're from.</span></p>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-1141544535534582462006-03-05T02:40:00.000-05:002006-03-05T02:42:15.543-05:00Pain, subsiding now...Pain, subsiding now<br />as NSAID’s course my veins<br />seeking connections to endorphins,<br />bringing surcease from swollen joints.<br /><br />‘Til, unbidden, my gut rumbles,<br />wrenching tight like a rope,<br />stomach flopping like a fish on the dock<br />left by over eager boys as they bait another.<br /><br />Thus continues the dance, pain to pain,<br />exchanging one for the other.<br />Well-being a forgotten memory<br />as yet another spasm wrings from my throat a gasp.<br /><br />©2006 Wil MosherWilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-1141471942349418922006-03-04T06:31:00.000-05:002006-03-04T06:32:22.363-05:00Current Events<p>Aortic Stenosis Is A Death Sentence</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>Aortic stenosis </p> <p>has a rotten prognosis</p> <p>about eighteen months to two years.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>First you can't breath,</p> <p>except maybe to wheeze,</p> <p>then you fall in a faint.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>It's downhill from there,</p> <p>a syncope nightmare,</p> <p>with fatal results in the end.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>Only surgery corrects,</p> <p>and then, only some, get desired outcomes,</p> <p>maybe five, or is it ten percent?</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>Warfarin for life,</p> <p>PTI&R a constant strife,</p> <p>right to the bitter end.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>When you get a mechanical valve,</p> <p>the strokes tend to be wild, </p> <p>sans coumadin coursing in blood.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>So Doc, if you please,</p> <p>give me another disease...</p> <p>one with a brighter outlook.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>Something that's easy,</p> <p>never too queasy,</p> <p>with a happy ending in sight.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>Because I'm truly repentant; </p> <p>aortic stenosis is a death sentence,</p> <p>and you're the one wielding the knife.</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>©2006 Wil Mosher, Glenburn, Maine</p>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7429582.post-1139526931977835222006-02-09T18:15:00.000-05:002006-02-17T00:41:46.840-05:00MEME: Hay-na-ku Thursday<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">"Hay(na)Ku" is a form invented by Eileen Tabios in 2005. <a href="http://www.meritagepress.com/haynaku.htm">There is an anthology of the work, published the same year.</a><br /><br />Professor Bernstein maintain's a web page desribing the form <a href="http://www.writing.upenn.edu/bernstein/syllabi/readings/hay-na-ku.html">here</a>.<br />He created this very clever description of its word-per-line structure:<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);">Form</span> <span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);"><br /> Is One</span> <span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);"><br /> Then Two Three<br /> </span><br /><br /><br />My own contribution to the form is below:<br /><br /><big>I<br />resign myself<br />to the inevitable.<br /><br />She*<br />is never<br />going to return.<br /><br />In<br />her memory<br />I dedicate this<br /><br />Meme: Hay-na-ku Thursday.<br />It stands<br />Alone.</big><br /><br /><br />February 9, 2006<br /><br />There's no compulsion, but if you do decide to participate, leave a link to your entry in the comments here at <a href="http://snoozelets.blogspot.com/">Snoozelets</a> so I can read your work. This is a very new poetic form and variations, such as the reverse word form order, are still being created. You, too, could pioneer something new!<br /></div>Wilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14834993203690623780noreply@blogger.com0