on the way to the lectric chair

 

Silent Voices

 

I Was Born Restless

I was born restless. The oldest. Not the first. A boy before me. Died after a few weeks. He was never given a name. John was born after me. And then another unnamed. And then all of my sisters. I wish I would have been born a boy. To run through the fields like a wild dog. To skinny dip in the local river. To laugh my head off. And not worry about what the ladies at church thought. To get off the Island and head west.

...............................download 'Down East'

Peabody

I have got to find a world for this guy.

Mrs. Harbour

story yet to be told

Moe Yonge

another character waiting in the wings to step into a story...

gossip

Maude Ferguson

water slapping the side of the boat

Spring on the moon

Women model dresses

I try on ideas like WOMEN MODEL DRESSES. I see if they fit me. Am I comfortable? Do they bring out the best that I have to offer the world? Reading Einstein was like changing my whole wardrobe. But relativity affected my inner ear. Motion sickness. The nausea of everything swirling around. Change. You can’t step into the same river twice. Made my head spin. I need a still point. Oh, for the innocence of the 13^th century. The earth was the centre of the sky. Man was the centre of creation. The Church was the word of God.

…………………………………………….download Second Thoughts

G. G. Mau

Emily

Emily had an old face. She always seemed sad. She was quiet. Sitting in front of me in Miss Kelly's class she hardly spoke. Never answered a question. About anything. And she started to bring me things. Candy from the store. Comic books. I never gave her anything. And then on a summer evening I broke into her family's home and started reading her diary. She had so many adventures. And admirers. Then I realized she was making it all up. Sex stuff. She wanted to have sex with her brother. But he didn't want to. Threatened to tell her parents. This was stuff you couldn't get out of your head.

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download Mario: A Lost Boy

Donna Evilicious

More characters as yet to be assigned to their stories.

THOUGHTS TOO DARK TO BE QUIET

Flowers shot out of the vase. Like Cape Kennedy.

Across the living room rug. All those young boys lives.

Splattered across Vietnam. I saw Superman

crawling out of the television set. He was weeping

for America. But America was buried under

a rock. Someplace in Arizona.

All our hope in the nation state. Has begun

to wane. We are returning to castles, princes, and the Holy

Roman empire. We don't need heroes. Or crusades.

We need clean water. And a violin plays

while the planet disappears into space.

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 download

THE FLOWERCONFESSES TO THE VASE

I AM ANGRY

I AM ANGRY

i am angry all of the time.

keeps me warm at night, offers compatible company.

but i'm getting old.

you can tell because blueberries go right through your system

unblemished.

my back, knees, my fingernails are being worn down

by the strain.

the anger riots in my stomach and naps in my brain.

no matter how much i vent, i still feel the same.

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download Rise of the Past

 

liar

Matinee

download 'Somewhere in the 1970s'
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Matinee

Theatre floors. Sticky. Popcorn like burrs. Bull frog in the corner. Belched. Lovers in the back row. Crunching on crackers and marmalade. Red exit sign stared into the darkened room. Unblinking. Like it was keeping its own counsel. My heart was in the coke holder.

On the screen a man was pleading. For his Mexican life. Weeping. Before the dark gringo. Clint Eastwood turned to the audience. He wasn't smiling. Eyes smoking. Finger twitched. There was a gasp from the audience.

The seat beside me was gutted. A spring dangling. Out of the belly. Of Monica's nightmare. I remember her staring down at her purse. On the floor. Bleeding.

Monica had an abortion. Clint grinned. Bit off the end of a cigar. 'Everything was too complicated,' she said. 'How was I going to explain a baby to my husband?' I felt cheated. 'If you knew, what difference would it have made? Look around you. Life is despised.' A gun shot. Clint relit his cigar. The audience laughed.

Twelve feet tall. Wearing a white gown. Covered in dust. Passing sentence on everyone he met. Clint loved to feed his gun.

Exit. Outside. Sunlight was roaming the street in gangs. Everyone wore shades. Even the truth. Slipping down Yonge Street. Passed the panhandlers, the No Parking signs, the Hare Krishna from Buffalo. Stepped into a bar. A waitress served fries. And beer. A blonde on a platform. In a slinky dress that shimmered. Singing a Billie Holiday tune. Forbidden fruit. A stripper stood on another platform. Scar on her belly. A baby or an appendix. I ordered a beer.

Monica said that there were 2 other girls. At the clinic. Waiting alone with her. One was scared to death. The other chewed gum. And spit out her teeth. A doctor passing by. Dropped a bag of blood. It ran in little fingers across the floor. The doctor ordered the stripper to pick it up. I kept looking at the singer. Thinking. I could change her heart.

The waitress brought over my beer. I gave her a bill. Of some kind. And waved off the change. She made small talk. Single syllable words that sounded like silence. 'Honey,' she said. 'You look like shit.' I smiled and told her I'd been involved in some medical experiments. She nodded to the bartender. Took a seat. Said that she needed a break. Her feet were killing her. Lit up a cigarette. Blew a smoke ring. And I saw an angel. Being buried in a cloud.

Thor

download 1948: Things to Come
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My father was a professional wrestler. Lord Athol Layton called him the 'terror from the North'. My father was called Thor. He carried a large wooden mallet. He used it to level opponents in the chest. He called it Odin's heart attack. One of his most famous bouts was with Sweet Dady Siki in Madison Square Garden. My dad said that Sweet Dady was also a country and western singer. Like Gene Autry. Who the hell was Gene Autry? The worst thing about wrestling was 'B.O.' Some wrestlers did not shower regularly. Afraid perhaps of losing their allure.

time