Taken in December of 2017 on Siquijor Island
DAILY PHOTO: Larena Pier, Siquijor
Reply
Author Archives: B Gourley
POEM: Black Skies [Rondeau Quatrain]
I saw the black skies up ahead,
but hoped they’d clear as I approached.
I hoped they’d clear as I approached.
I saw those black skies up ahead.
And from the distance I felt dread.
The dark wouldn’t yield to my reproach.
I saw those black skies up ahead,
but hoped they’d clear as I approached.
The ebon clouds began to spread.
Into my mind they did encroach,
and on my bliss began to poach
until something monstrous was bred.
I saw the black skies up ahead,
but hoped they’d clear as I approached.
I hoped they’d clear as I approached.
I saw those black skies up ahead.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Mountain Trail Tanka
I
yellow flowers,
along the trailside,
wave in the breeze;
butterflies flit
with random purpose
II
grazing livestock
trim the trail corridor
golf course neat;
not even the steepest
parts grow out shaggy
III
hear the burble
of the flowing water
where’s the creek?
it’s marsh-like in the grass,
awaiting a naïve boot
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
DAILY PHOTO: Flower Market, Malleshwaram
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
POEM: Intolerable Status Quo
They say that every story begins
with an intolerable status quo.
Who it’s intolerable for is an open question.
Maybe it’s the protagonist…
&
Maybe not.
[Some protagonists spend the whole story
trying to get back to that status quo.]
Maybe it’s the antagonist…
&
Maybe not.
Sometimes, the status quo is intolerable to the universe —
(as every status quo must become.)
And every non-blissful moment of living
is an intolerable status quo —
a state in search of [or hope for]
a better state to come.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
A Limerick of Thailand
There was an old woman from Thailand
who lived on a teeny tiny island.
As she increased in age,
she was ever more engaged
in recalling which tiny island of Thailand.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
POEM: Hyperqueryitis
When I was a young boy, earlier than I can remember, I caught hyperqueryitis — a permanent affliction denoted by a propensity to ask “too many damned questions” — or so it was explained to me.
The condition can become exacerbated by certain common treatments — all of which are popular replies of the adult human being, such as:
-“… because it just is, that’s why!”
-“… because it’s always been that way!”
-“… we’ll get there when we get there and not a moment sooner!”
Side-effects may include: the use of words such as: propensity, affliction, and exacerbate; as well as a marked tendency to make up one’s own words.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
DAILY PHOTO: Old Homes of Malleshwaram
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
BOOK REVIEW: The Fall, Vol. 1 by Jared Muralt
The Fall, Volume 1 by Jared Muralt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Out: March 17, 2021
I’m really curious about how this book will do. On the one hand, the writer / artist does an incredible job of creating a visceral and gripping reading experience. On the other hand, I suspect the reaction will be a resounding: “too soon.” The story is essentially the worst-case scenario of our current, pandemic-dominated, world. What would happen if the fatalities became so disruptive that governance and economic production faltered and then collapsed? In the marketing materials, the publisher makes a comparison to Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” and “The Fall” does share with that literary masterpiece the idea that there’s virtually nobody left that one wants to run into – i.e. everybody left is looking out for number one, and is, thus, untrustworthy. While that’s not strictly true, it’s true enough that one has to treat everyone with suspicion and with a finger on the trigger (literally or figuratively, as one’s state of armament allows.) Looking at the matter from the other direction, everyone left has done (or will end up doing) something of which they aren’t proud.
The story is built around a blue-collar family. The father and two children (a teenaged daughter and pre-teen boy) had one of the early variants of the flu, giving them adaptive immunity with a less lethal strain. The mother, a health-care worker, succumbs to the highly lethal evolved variant, leaving the three to survive in a rapidly escalating apocalyptic scenario.
At first, the family tries to survive in the city, but the father discovers that there is no food left and there are dangerous elements about. The trio then heads to stay with relatives in the countryside, not without running into challenges. They end up in a town that is allowing “tourists” to stay (with all the fatalities, housing is the only necessity that’s not lacking,) but there is not enough food or medicine for everyone. The characters are repeatedly pressed up against the kinds of challenging scenarios one might expect in a post-apocalyptic winter wonderland. Most pressingly, the father suffers an infection that seems like it may have him on his deathbed.
This is an intense read. As I say, I’m not sure everybody’s ready for it. If you have anxiety about where we are presently, I wouldn’t recommend it as it might take you to dire places that you wouldn’t have imagined yourself. That said, for readers of horror, dark stories, dystopian and post-apocalyptic wasteland stories, it’s a strong entry.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
DAILY PHOTO: Sri Gangamma Devi Temple
