Parker Owens

This is most marvelous poetic storytelling. I do wonder if you are telling a series of stories of real events, or a story of your own devising, or something else. But whatever, you are doing, it is being done with economy and grace and beauty. I can relate to the poet. I have never liked heights, and hated the high board. I can see the light you describe, and feel the cold and fear, still.

A journey in a car as metaphor; you spin it out so well. I am taken back to journeys made with my family, trapped next to an older sibling or cousin in the rear seat. I have images of long, tense rides, with silent tension in the car filling the air with unspoken conversation. I recall in this poem being alone with thoughts which refuse to let go, digging deeper and deeper into the psyche. I cannot help but identify with so much in this. It is deeply sad and enormously powerful.

This is a searing, simple cry of the heart. You express yourself so eloquently in plain words. It is a gift. Were I able to keep company with you awhile, I would offer you friendship, conversation and a warm hug of affirmation. As it happens, your words touch me as deeply, and I my grateful for them.

Thank you for sharing these, tim. You are so very good expressing the paradox of feeling love and pain, hope and sadness, all simultaneously. Poem 1: You define love so aptly in the second stanza – You accepted me as I was…gave eternity in a ring, I heard echoes of joy and distilled melancholy both in this one verse. You do not want to go, no, and I don't want you to, either. None can tell how kind the years will be, but we know we must be stronger together than as fragments. When memory brings you to us, we will yet be stronger, for you have a place in our hearts, indeed. Poem 2: Hope and melancholy coexist in the same heart, as dissonant notes and timbres exist in the same music. It is not as strange as it might seem. And the music of your soul – expressed in this poem – will surely echo always.

I wish I knew how it worked, too. Wally on Michael's bike is probably the last thing Kenny expects. At any rate, Wally is certainly surprising Kenny by not jumping at the chance to get back in business. Not that Kenny took 'no' for an answer, anyhow. Marquez wouldn't want that. Kenny might have been making a delivery, or on the way to see someone. It's not clear, but it seems coincidental. Probably. You are certainly correct in that Wally will want to think very carefully about exploring again. Many thanks for your review and commentary...and for reading this far into the story!

I have waited a long time for this chapter. You tell your story very well, with plenty of dramatic tension, yet filled with the joy and warmth of acceptance. Not everyone had your family, and you were fortunate in that, but the apprehension is surely enormous for anyone. Thank you for sharing this.

Bobby haunts John, doesn't he? But the mere fact turns on all the nasty sarcasm John can muster. Interesting to see the romantic attachments at school on display, like a map. How do the teachers have time for all that?

What a pair. What was Emma thinking by bringing the two of them together in the same school? There's such a thing as dynamic tension, and then there's a death wish. Nice added tension here.

Oh my - let's draw triangles, shall we? Alek and Nathan? I see you can have a great deal of fun in this story, but at the expense of someone's heart! Somebody is going to have his heart broken, and I sure hope it isn't Liam. He's been hurt enough. Nice to see Corey and Jason come through, too.

He'd better channel his inner Tour de France rider. Hope Michael's bike has a high gear. Thanks for reading and commenting!

The past is now chasing him, predator to prey. Ending the threat is beyond him, for now - Marquez is powerful and very frightening. Many thanks for your comments, and for reading the story to this point.

Kenny is a scary dude, even though he isn't seven feet tall, or built like ten linebackers. It's what Kenny represents, and the power behind that which is truly frightening. Marquez and Kenny feel an interest in Wally, a sort of interest that can kill quickly or slowly, but certainly. I will not lead you further down the path of speculation, but I will thank you for having mapped out the options pretty well. Your impatience tells me I might have done a passable job at this chapter, then. Many thanks for reading the story, and for your comments today.

Many good things have happened to Wally by now - he's been Oscar and Javi's guest, he's learned again how to work and be satisfied in that work aboard the Feigenbaum - he made some real friends aboard ship, too. But you are right, in that redemption is not yet truly begun. Just now, all his energy is directed to making that bike go as fast as it can. Many thanks for continuing to read the story, and for your comments and thoughts.

What an interesting way of thinking about TP - as an employee, or perhaps a franchisee, or even an agent. In any case, Marquez and Kenny feel a certain interest in Wally, and that could be quite lethal. At least Wally can see that much. Running scared - bolting, in fact - is just what prey would do in the face of a predator. The question now is just how determined and hungry this predator might be, and how fast can it give chase? And if Wally is caught in the predator's jaws, then will karma be appeased? Many thanks for your comments and thoughts, and for your support in reading the story.

Yes, the relative security and calm is broken. Wally feels compelled to flee, and hope he is not tracked down again. Kenny is no joke, apparently, and nobody to be taken lightly. Wally knows this much, at least. As for your excellent questions, I fear they must lie unanswered for a time. Sorry about that Many thanks for your thoughts and remarks!

The next day was difficult. Very difficult. He spent the morning with Javier again, feeling unreasonably embarrassed with every passing minute. It had only been a daydream. What he imagined in the shower the day before wasn't real. But the daydream affected the way he interacted with Javier, making him more careful, more reserved than ever. That morning, they worked on the pool pump. Honestly, he had no idea what was wrong with it, but he helped Javier disconnect it and lift it out of its well

Hugs first, reactions second. Your images of increasing slope, polished, slippery surfaces, have the power to frighten. Certainly, that's how this makes me feel...scared and powerless.

Drip, drop, drip, drop, go the enticing little bits of information. You provide us with small puzzle pieces to begin fitting together...where are all the edges? Where are the like colors? You do it well enough that I don't notice at first. But will teaching truly be so horrible? I know I shall have to be patient to discover all that I am supposed to know, but drat it, I want to know now!

So John has agreed to teach. That may be more than he bargained for, but turning down money like that is hard, very hard. But at least it may concentrate his mind a little on something outside his own misery.

A dawn in the making? Keller and Tobyn seem to have worked a miracle in Logan, and that may speak louder than anything they can say at any meeting. But what is the meaning of that painting? I am all eyes and ears to know...but will not speculate!

Tak! Perfect in your timing, and tone. Loved how Lucas remained Joel's point of focus when anger threatened to derail everything. A wonderful vignette.

Then you have crowned my day. Thank you!

This was a fun chapter, and the title fits perfectly. Maybe Nicolas will turn out to be human after all....nah.

Was thinking about Barenboim, and then about Debussy...and came to the realization that Debussy played for and knew Liszt, who was (reportedly) blessed by Beethoven. What a chain of acquaintance.... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0FbQZCsYXVg

Thank you Gary. The task seems simple, but X is hard to do without using work arounds. Learned a lot of new words for this poem! It seemed only right this one should go to our very own...