I thank you for your kindness in reading this story, and for your responses to it. So much regret enveloped each character, yet I hope that some ray of light - perhaps through Ed’s invitation - can seep through to each of them. May your new year be happy!
This has been a highly engaging and engrossing story. There are many different issues, story lines and plot developments to follow, not least of which are the fates of great grandsons of Dom DeLuca. That they might learn with and from Oli and his rescued brothers will be unquestionably life changing. Wherever the story-light shines next will be fascinating.
I distantly remember air-raid and fallout drills in grade 1; even then, nobody seriously believed the worst would happen. In this particular instance, a second grader dialed for emergency response. All too frequently, 200 times a year, the worst happens. So many feel powerless to change any of this, and too many of us feel like potential targets. More firearms will not make us less so, in my opinion. Thanks for reading and hearing my voice.
Your responses from your legislators are akin to mine. Gun violence and gun death is so commonplace, that it seems to defy discussion. All I can hope is that if enough of us say aloud how it makes us feel, how it will move us to vote, then perhaps it’s worth all of us writing prose or poetry about it. Thanks for your comments.
How is it that murder presented itself as a viable course of action in this case? What convinces a person of that? Thanks very much for reading and for your comments.
Thanks for reading this. Your comments echo my cry of frustration. We cannot seem to agree on solutions, yet shouting and hand-wringing don’t seem to help, either.
An Old Story
Another school shooting,
and again the screams and fear
echo down the tiled hallways,
rattling the lockers of the collective mind
as little children learn what murder means
firsthand;
And then the media tumult thunders,
their lights blind us;
the noise of them with stories about this story
makes us deaf
to the cries of the children
who cower under desks
or in their homes,
when all they really wanted
I enjoyed reading this modern take on what became of Hell. I can’t help but think about Infernal Industries’ loss of customer interest occurring in parallel with a discernible loss of interest and belief in both Hell and Heaven. Does Infernal Industries rely on belief in order to attract customers? And I couldn’t help wondering what a modern day Dante would have noted as torture for modern sinners. It was most entertaining to read.
I’m glad you liked the use of subjunctive here; in searching for a title, it seemed most apt. Indeed, too many plans like this have come to nought, or appear distinctly unlikely. Thanks very much for reading, and for your response.
Subjunctive
Perhaps if I’d been born a different man
I’d make a proposition rude
and hope that you might fall in with my plan,
suggestions hardly misconstrued,
but ending on the sofa or divan
with each of us embraced,
all barriers effaced.
Would that the peaceful, late day sun had traced
across our resting frames to span
the arms I want to hold us waist to waist
in light appealing to Gauguin,
while we exquisite, haunting k
Poor Liam, trapped in a circuit of anxiety, a spiral of worry that can only land him in a great, cold wet swamp of depression. I can only hope that Mark will find him.
Thanks so much both for reading and for your response. I can only hope that you and many of us will have conversations about the small signs of defiance we see and plant around us every day.
Art may soothe, inspire, resist and defy. It helps to write, still more it helps to know one is not alone. Thanks for reading, and for your encouraging words.
A skyscraper here refers to the poetry form, rather than an actual building. The crazed, cruel, creatures are those who would prey upon us for their own advantage. I’m glad that you found these interesting. Thank you very much for reading and commenting.
Descent
Night descends
and all that was in light
is suddenly swallowed up in shadow,
smothered and submerged in starless uncertainty
where crazed, cruel creatures lie in wait
to feast upon the bones
of rainbows.
Darkness
It’s so hard
to resist the grey mist
that with subtle silent fingers creeps
and shrouds unwary spirits in cold cheerlessness
to numb, to choke, to douse with despair
the fragile fla
It’s good to see more of Liam’s life evolving. Why was that woman staring? It’s probably nothing, but one never fully knows. I can’t imagine Liam wanting to leave Ed behind. Ed seems to be able to help Liam get a better grip on the world. They’re stronger together.