ReaderPaul

@Drew Espinosa -- the comments about snow in Texas reminded me of, in the mid 1970s, my best friend and his wife moved from St. Louis, Missouri, to Fort Worth, Texas. They stopped in Dennison, Texas, for vehicle fuel and food, and my friend saw a screaming newspaper headline, something like: "Arctic Storm Paralyzes City!" There was maybe an inch to maybe one and a half inches of snow there, and they had loaded up and driven through 13 inches of snow in St. Louis to leave for Texas. So after living in Missouri for 23 years, his attitude as he looked at snow barely covering Dennison, "What arctic storm?" You did well.

Glad to see you posting. Good haiku.

I am very glad to hear that, @quokka. Would you tell us which book it is the fourth of, Preston?

A good example is Simply Red's song "Sunrise" which took Daryl Hall & John Oates song "I Can't Go for That" and put "Sunrise" on top of that, even taking a few of the same words at one point in the middle of "Sunrise" from "I Can't Go For That" -- Easy, Ready, Willing, Overtime -- (first time in song, in intro, Hall sings "Easy, Willing, Overtime" -- second time adds "Ready") Where does it stop, where do I draw the line -- You've got the body, now you want the soul-- Don't even think about it, say 'No go" -- The musical introductions are slightly different to "I Can't Go for That" and "Sunrise", but the music is so close I cannot tell any significant differences. John Oates in an interview said that chord changes can't be copyrighted (implied-- can't be copyrighted in the US) -- "Or Chuck Berry would be a gazillionaire!"

Love these, Gary, Haiku #3 and #4 especially spoke to me in the haiku section. The poem "Things" expressed so many of my thoughts well. Well done, sir.

I personally know of two projects, one from my youth, where the town in which my father worked was bypassed by a considerably realigned road that saved most travelers 7 miles (11.3 km) , eventually killed the town over a 25 year period. Another project about 15 years ago, bypassed three towns, two of which were almost dead anyway, this time saving about 8 miles (12.9 km) and the main remaining town is down to a school, a laundromat, and one or two other small businesses. Often the people and towns along a present road will fight to keep the road in or close to their town. In this case, it looks like shortening the good road by the improvements proposed won out. Would that all such projects could ultimately improve the lives of the majority of persons. Good work, @quokka/Preston.

Beautiful, Terry.

@Drew Payne, I am sorry for your loss. We had different types of parents; I was fortunate that my father was kind and always tried to express things in a loving way. My mother, not so much. My brother is five years older than me, and we are not close, though not enemies. We are closer as adults than we were in our younger years. Memories of your brother can be comforting. I am glad, as adults, you and Dave were able to become closer. I wish that peace will come to you with time. I wish I could give magic words of comfort to you, but I can only express sympathy for your loss. Paul

Once again, this chapter shows how resourceful Jex and Marcus are, and the positive, "we will make it work" spirit of so many Australians. Well done, Preston.

@Geron Kees -- are Ruedi and Esmerelda some of Robin's grandchildren or great-grandchildren? What Robin said about Ruedi being able to cover his skwish emissions, plus the clues in another Charlie Boone adventure, make me wonder.

Excellent chapter. Glad to see Martyn and Jonah there as well.

Good chapter, @quokka Have you personally been through any cyclones?

The Hero saved alien queen. Rewarded.

Terry and Gary -- I am much better at alliteration than poetry. On GA I am finding possibly the best poetry I have ever read. You two and @Backwoods Boy and @Aditus and @Cynus and @AC Benus have written poetry equal to or exceeding the classical poets taught in school. The reflectiveness, root reactions, real riveting rhythms, and remembrances triggered, all add appreciation to an interesting and intelligent examination within myself. Thanks to all of you I mentioned.

They need to come up with a better backstory, with something vague but true, rather than just -- "We used to be in the foreign service."

Once again, Gary, you have amazed and aroused my sense of wonderment with poetry. However, an analysis of the scope of the above would be far longer than what you presented, so I will just say -- Very well done indeed, @Headstall. Not only the scope, sir, but the sensitivity, the seriousness, the steadfastness, the valor, the victory, the valiant verve and vitality, vanquishing the sticky syrupy, sometimes slog through the times of life when loose languid lax -- lumps -- of living appear. Thanks.

How beautiful! Once again, beauty, hope, memory, and other forces collide in and expressive way. The memories brought back of growing up on a small farm, near a small town, the variety of people influencing me -- from a male librarian who was also a master bricklayer, to a car assembly line neighbor, to my father who worked 66 hours a week my first 6 years of life, and a friend's mother who suffered from depression yet was very caring. Ah, the memories, @Headstall. Very well done, Gary.

I look forward to see what this is leading to. I could guess, but at this moment it is more fun to read.

The boys are getting good experience dealing with a variety of situations under the leading of Jexon and Marcus. They are, whether or not they realize it or not, receiving practical education in the variety of changes life can bring. The guys and women at the training facilities needed to be ousted from there. Good work on this chapter as usual, @quokka

I thought I had already expressed my gratitude for this set of poetry, but i don't see a current comment from me. @raven1 -- very well done. The Not So Traditional Haiku was very meaningful. All were exceptionally enjoyable, but for some reason, that one spoke to me just slightly more than the others. Thanks, Terry.

Very well done, @Headstall. Had most of the poetry I have read over the years was of this quality, I would love poetry. As it is, the quality of poems on GA have been much above what I was used to. I really enjoyed these, Gary.

Well, some interesting developments We see the Headmaster trying to throw his proverbial weight around, and instead getting thrown out of his own school. I regret to see Martyn and Jonus separated from the brothers, if this development happens. It would not surprise me if the Headmaster attempts to get even in some way. But, we can hope he has learned his lesson about threatening children of diplomats and/or members of the DIO.

Gary, even C S Lewis said something like (paraphrasing) "The Bible must not be weaponized and used as a club." I studied the Bible a lot when I was much younger. I have done some research in more recent years, and much of what is "translated" into English has really been mistranslated. Many of the "abominations" of Leviticus should be translated instead as "it is not our custom." Some of the seeming (in English) Old Testament prohibitions on male-male sex actually refer to forced sex on an unwilling male, when context and the original language is studied. Some of the wording of the New Testament in English has been also not correctly translated. A fun read, @Refugium.

Most of the time I don't care for poetry. But these are fantastic. Very well done, @raven1.

The Deputy Headmaster, Mr. Kingston, seemed a bit clueless regarding the boys. I wonder if he might be part of the problem? There seems to be a common trait in many administrators which wants to do something before knowing enough facts. While many time one must act without knowing all the relevant facts, bureaucrats and management seem especially likely to forge ahead too quickly.