Category Thoughts About Art & Culture
Serial Tuesday ~ Toliver
Chapter Ten After dinner, Toliver hoped to have a chance to talk to Janeannie outside, but Joad waited for him by the exit and motioned him out of line. Joad turned without waiting and Toliver followed him to the front and up onto the stage. By the time they stood by the family table, the […]
Ask Only One Question
Give me now the cheerfulness and fearlessness of our youth Back when we knew they were our lives, embodied our truth Towels we used to make super hero capes with paper masks Innocence our strength to conquer all our Sisyphean tasks Heroes all, though one day as Indians, the next day cowboys Imagination’s fires lit, […]
So Below
Oh what a trial computers are, yet we cannot live without them Their bits, bytes, drivers, apps, to most, as magical as a unicorn Like people, get filled with junk, catch viruses like an alien BEM We try to tend them carefully, but in time they grow old, forlorn Like pets, love them, invest in […]
The Voice on the Phone
The voice on the phone said tell me your name The voice on the phone confirmed my number The voice on the phone asked me my problem The voice on the phone could not understand I wanted to speak to a real, live, actual person I did not want to be speaking with a recording […]
Serial Tuesday ~ Toliver
One Sunday, Wurst brought a small, cool-laser carving tool and, after clearing it with an unhappy Joad, showed Toliver how to use it. Wurst had tied it into Joad’s InnerAI, and also coded it so it couldn’t be used on soft tissue. With the small size and limitations, Toliver felt these precautions were almost useless. […]
Ours to Choose
What is it follows? Can it be found? Follows you around Sometimes in front Sometimes behind Opens doors Slams doors In your face Sneaks in Cheek by jowl Cuts no slack A burdened back Dogs your steps Manacles Your joints Points of pain Reminders Of reminders past Needles and pins Stuck in a map Of […]
Serial Tuesday ~ Toliver
Chapter Eight Sunday brought a morning off, which meant either being locked in or attending a Christian service filled with brimstone and the god of Abraham. It also brought the casket maker, Wurst. “Anders Theodore Wurst, they call me the Best,” he said. “And the Wurst,” Toliver replied, picking up on the name. Wurst laughed, […]
Serial Tuesday ~ Toliver
Chapter Seven That night at dinner, Toliver no longer sat at the front. His seatmates called it the hot seat, and not somewhere you wanted to sit. Today the honor belonged to a woman, though he could only see the curly, brown hair on the top of her head and hear her murmured responses to […]
WYGIWYSNISM
Is that the best you can do, one of them asked I think I’d do much better if you just relaxed I think you’d do better if you ever learned how A fine time you’ve picked to think of that now You’ve hinted you want it done but never asked Always be polite, we’re told; […]
Even When, We Must
We must celebrate what’s good, but expose what is wrong We must never be complacent; say the day cannot be won We must guard the gains we garner, no matter how small Even the smallest light, the tiniest step forward benefits all We must fight against the fossils who pull us back in time We […]
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