tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46574919545446609942024-03-19T08:11:27.617+00:00The Devil's DiariesPoetry. Fiction. Art. Photography.M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.comBlogger1085125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-70408877726570556912023-09-18T10:30:00.005+01:002023-09-18T10:30:49.375+01:00Defeat<p> </p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It wasn’t only Bryan’s life
that seemed charmed. Julia, still in the throes of love with her first
appropriate man, got promoted at Marquette. Melissa announced she was pregnant
again (her first baby, a girl, couldn’t have been cuter), and Bob still seemed utterly
smitten with Shelly. It seemed to me that some formal engagement between Bob
and Shelly couldn’t be far behind.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Yet when I mentioned this to Bryan,
he replied, “I don’t think so. She was never as serious as Bob was, and
Ted said she rarely goes out with all of them anymore. I’m not sure that
relationship is going to have a happy ending.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“You just don’t like
her.” </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">B</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">ryan grimaced. "No, I don't, but this isn't about that. I just have a feeling it will all be over soon.”</span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I hoped he was
wrong. The last thing Bob needed was another broken heart.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I hoped in vain. The weekend
after exams Bryan joined me in the kitchen, where I was peeling an apple. “I
have some bad news,” he said. “I just got off the phone with Bob. He and Shelly
broke up.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The apple landed with a thud on
the cutting board. “Why?” I demanded.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“You know how Shelly started
that new job a few months ago?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“What about it?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“She met someone there.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“You mean another guy?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">When Bryan nodded, I protested,
“Is Bob sure about that? Maybe he’s just being paranoid, because of
Cathy.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“Well, considering the fact
that Shelly was the one to tell him, he’s pretty damn certain.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“She<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>told</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>him?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“She had to. She and this other
guy are moving in together.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I sank against the counter. First
Cathy, and now Shelly. The nightmare never ended. “Is he okay?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“Not at all, so I invited him to
spend a few days with us—I didn’t think you would mind. He could use some
cheering up.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“Of course that’s okay,” I
answered, but it was going to take a lot more than a few days with sympathetic
friends to right what Shelly had wronged. Bob was a disaster. Not even Cathy
dumping him for a stinky old college professor had hurt him this much, I guess
because he’d blamed it on his drinking. Now that he was sober, and working his
program with such earnestness, maybe his world view had changed. Maybe he had
thought to himself,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>This time
things will be different</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">And yet here we were again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">As Bob slumped in the dining
room chair, looking aged and defeated, I told him, “There will be someone else—someone
who will treasure all of the wonderful things about you.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Bob smiled a little. He clearly
did not believe me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“It’s true,” I insisted, but when his puppy dog eyes brimmed with tears I could have sworn I heard his heart
breaking. “I appreciate what you’re trying to say,” he answered. “I
really do. But my whole life I’ve been taken advantage of by the people I most
want to trust. And the scariest thing is, I don’t know what to do about it. I
don’t know how to change.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">*<i>From The Happy Ending, a manuscript I'm currently editing</i></span></span></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-33586946074159117752023-09-12T15:21:00.003+01:002023-09-12T15:21:37.369+01:00Over<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNaKcyjeLU7mcHDu6pyM6H5iv7BUXWywBWOOcO4Wy6djDkWudLaz7h_qB7PBKOdbHqI9qmqCTvii9KCLqHPgSIZIiXCp7wX7igAx9J77R6HgsFRGlhNwQ8F3bgOYnR4sGhxwyk1BGoi357-YAurMQUL1Z5lD2Fy-hn4IdQs8Ax6IRznfM2GkIcxActp6re/s4608/birdbath%20(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNaKcyjeLU7mcHDu6pyM6H5iv7BUXWywBWOOcO4Wy6djDkWudLaz7h_qB7PBKOdbHqI9qmqCTvii9KCLqHPgSIZIiXCp7wX7igAx9J77R6HgsFRGlhNwQ8F3bgOYnR4sGhxwyk1BGoi357-YAurMQUL1Z5lD2Fy-hn4IdQs8Ax6IRznfM2GkIcxActp6re/s320/birdbath%20(3).JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Here in this leaving</span></i></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i>triumph is fleeting</i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>from so far away</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>no tongues left to </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>speak in</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div></i></span></div>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-14218292815538910842023-07-06T12:40:00.005+01:002024-02-19T11:34:46.956+00:00Revisited<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Despair rose up in me like a flash flood; it
had almost reached my heart when I heard a gentle snorting noise. The
small puffy dog who smelled like cake shuffled out from behind a
bush. “Are you real?” I asked her. “Or are you going to
disappear, too?”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">She cocked her head and bared crooked teeth at me,
as if to say, <i>Does it matter</i>?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I dropped down next to her. When I
wrapped my arms around my knees and began to cry, she butted her head against
my leg until I unfurled. The setting sun was hot on my
neck. “You shouldn't be here,” I told her. “You should go
back into the woods, where it’s cool.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">She snorted and rolled onto her back. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Tiredly I slid over to the shaded area and laid
down on the damp, cold ground. As I closed my eyes I heard some more
snuffling sounds; I then felt her strange fluffy head rest against the palm of
my hand. <i>We will be safe tonight</i>, I thought to
myself. Tomorrow was anybody’s guess. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtEI18IgUtl8taxsgLLD2Pc7lIqedaQ_rzllA1Qtl0OAoinH5c-QNyuB-e9W5E_0g3PFOOLr28BpdQtzFhO_pu0YD456Hkbu2PpKAESRd1HXjvMiaLl2qcXcdxcEPBsDuhq2pUWDs9xv1lzK2Rvl2XIbD5R7B6VRCy5P4MgU_141AdUGBa7J8VgWbwaK3s/s2048/forestb.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtEI18IgUtl8taxsgLLD2Pc7lIqedaQ_rzllA1Qtl0OAoinH5c-QNyuB-e9W5E_0g3PFOOLr28BpdQtzFhO_pu0YD456Hkbu2PpKAESRd1HXjvMiaLl2qcXcdxcEPBsDuhq2pUWDs9xv1lzK2Rvl2XIbD5R7B6VRCy5P4MgU_141AdUGBa7J8VgWbwaK3s/s320/forestb.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span><p></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-16139966555184189702023-06-19T12:02:00.005+01:002024-01-23T11:55:49.185+00:00Ask Me Why<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I pushed the river<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">found a way over and under<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">forced the square peg through<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">the round hole</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">gave hosannas to snowdrops<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">breathed in the scent of new</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">meadows</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">made vows behind half-closed<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">doors<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">yet even as I crept into summer</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">felt the cool pavement under a </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">welcome shadow</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">listened in the mountains to <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">the coyotes sing</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">the synapses kept firing <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">corrupted messages across <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">this faulty wiring<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">believe in me oh I do<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I am a survivor<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">a miracle wrapped in nightmare<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">another cause lost in <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">gratitude</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyg4lvJkbY5x-VXegERm1o_9zTUtjuMRhHMiu5ovppO6nqMmIHihKUJX8g7c84EXi2yT6xZmQrjMpecJRWPAunCGvkRK0YQoxkW3BWFKghru1Piib6rU2pXO0RG7llgmdv-FYyBp9d3Hyfe3nvhcn16l5UjSpnJ_L7vn1hZBTAUThK7hkCyyC6-saUwP3y/s2048/innocence2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1526" data-original-width="2048" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyg4lvJkbY5x-VXegERm1o_9zTUtjuMRhHMiu5ovppO6nqMmIHihKUJX8g7c84EXi2yT6xZmQrjMpecJRWPAunCGvkRK0YQoxkW3BWFKghru1Piib6rU2pXO0RG7llgmdv-FYyBp9d3Hyfe3nvhcn16l5UjSpnJ_L7vn1hZBTAUThK7hkCyyC6-saUwP3y/s320/innocence2.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-40506655266720610772023-05-28T13:54:00.001+01:002023-06-17T16:51:39.148+01:00Doomed<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Memory loosens her hold as <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">the sun
subsides and<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">night enters
the fray<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I fell
toward you, I know<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">even as the
first breath of loss<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">corrupted my
lungs<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">but truth is
an endless singing in<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">the ears<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I cannot
quiet it<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I must bend
my knees before<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">the moon<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">as need suffers
another<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">death</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4mF3Ij8KQ_MQgZCTTkajbBRMUaMkHz4oHmSifZcMP_b-5TZS8SIpzk2j3UFZiPWv3eYJSUAYGl9k35RMsQ41oeBRji2RIDAr7r1byqVx8rm587Vx7LKVmrukeROL2FIT7P0QT2J1ab51I2_YKNgSPMa0Lei9Raohw1UiVRVcFBFHlz9ON0nqXUar7GA/s2048/little%20moon.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4mF3Ij8KQ_MQgZCTTkajbBRMUaMkHz4oHmSifZcMP_b-5TZS8SIpzk2j3UFZiPWv3eYJSUAYGl9k35RMsQ41oeBRji2RIDAr7r1byqVx8rm587Vx7LKVmrukeROL2FIT7P0QT2J1ab51I2_YKNgSPMa0Lei9Raohw1UiVRVcFBFHlz9ON0nqXUar7GA/s320/little%20moon.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-19655078604100082342023-05-23T13:15:00.029+01:002023-09-07T16:11:59.245+01:00Another Conversation with Alturis<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Alturis spun the hunting knife in slow circles, a thoughtful expression on his face. “You must have been sad to leave your friends when you moved here," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Not really.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">He arched an eyebrow, an invitation to explain. Megan didn’t
particularly want to, but given that he was the psychopath with a hunting knife—and her
only hope was to keep him talking—she forced herself to say, “I’m not good at
having friends.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“You’re a woman. All women have friends.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Megan laughed a little. “Not in my case. I mean, I tried to.
I <i>wanted</i> to have friends. But something always got in the way.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Such as?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Well…when I was little, and I lived with my mom, we moved around a lot. Even if we stayed in one place for a while, people
figured out pretty quickly that she was a drug addict and we were poor, so no
one wanted their kids to play with me. By the time I went to live with my aunt
and uncle I was just tired of trying, I guess. And it was embarrassing to
explain why I didn’t live with my mother.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“But you are an adult now. No one cares about your mother
anymore.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“It still feels like too much work. I guess I’m just not comfortable with small talk,”
Megan admitted. “I’m not that great at just sitting around chatting with people. I
can do it for a little while, but then I get tired, and people realize I’m
weird.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Alturis made a dismissive noise. “In my experience there is nothing weird about
the inability to make small talk.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Megan didn’t ask him what those experiences were. The last
thing she wanted to do was to remind him why they were sat in the Miller’s
kitchen, with Mr. and Mrs. Miller dead in the living room. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“No friend in Minneapolis, though?” Alturis pressed. “Not a
single one?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Megan allowed herself to look away from that knife, as she said, </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">“I had one friend for a little while. Someone
I met at my yoga class."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">"Had?"</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Megan shrugged.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Alturis peered at her, the knife suddenly still. Her heartbeat exploding again, Megan rushed out, "She was funny, yet really nice at the
same time. I almost felt comfortable around her. We’d go
out to lunch after class and I’d come back not hating myself like I usually did
after social experiences.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“What went wrong?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"I don't know. It--well, Alice said I spent too much time at home
alone, so she started inviting me along when she and her friends went out to
see a movie or a show. At first it was okay, even nice. But then I realized one
of her friends—Jody—didn’t really like me. That would have been okay, except
she and Alice were as thick as
thieves.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Megan stopped short at this ill-advised metaphor. If Alturis felt
insulted by it—because, after all, he was a crook as well as a murder—he didn’t
show it. After a moment Megan cleared her throat and continued, “I got the
sense that Jody was making fun of me, and that Alice was laughing along with
her.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“How
so?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“They were always making jokes about people. And then I saw some
back and forth between them on Facebook that seemed to reference things I’d
said. I’m not always—smooth. I can say sort of
dumb things.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Snorting, Alturis replied, “This is true of us all, is it
not?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“I guess. And maybe I was reading too much into everything--m</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">aybe they weren’t talking about me at all. But I don't think so. I know I can be paranoid, but I have a pretty good radar
for this stuff, after all those years of people judging my mom, and then me by
extension.”</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“That is very sad, if true—and if not, even more sad that
you doubted Alice.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“It's impossible to say,” Megan answered. She was generally willing to accept she might be wrong, and god knew, with this she had wanted to be
wrong. She’d really liked Alice. The problem was, she couldn’t quite make
herself believe it. “But that's over now,” she said. “In a way I was
glad to move—to get away from the not knowing. It was a relief to just
be done with it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">His hunting knife in motion again, Alturis
concluded, “And now here you are.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“Yes,” she said softly. “Now here I am.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-59819476341879918592023-04-28T10:14:00.001+01:002023-09-17T11:45:18.513+01:00Back Around<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgutlHPfUo6nPhZa1QPL59cF2OKINCe3C3HHmFz4KwCrpsZI-Qmn7oUXWvL6nYbfVJxBFVMFIemm8prfVgTiBFmA9blx2Fu9swYTje5tyXgxukLoGW1eqgDR4SsxANRYlyxYYc8iTMRsEWvQ-pAjX7Jgj8Fjp4l9G-O4IclMiDHrnrM6J1aKomQJ95BZA/s2048/graysky.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1502" data-original-width="2048" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgutlHPfUo6nPhZa1QPL59cF2OKINCe3C3HHmFz4KwCrpsZI-Qmn7oUXWvL6nYbfVJxBFVMFIemm8prfVgTiBFmA9blx2Fu9swYTje5tyXgxukLoGW1eqgDR4SsxANRYlyxYYc8iTMRsEWvQ-pAjX7Jgj8Fjp4l9G-O4IclMiDHrnrM6J1aKomQJ95BZA/s320/graysky.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">How we hope<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">craft facts out of</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">fiction</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">these little triumphs of</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">rationalization</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">only to sing the same </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">sad cowboy song</span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">try again, my love</span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">stop looking for wisdom</span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">once again you are</span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">nature’s victim</span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">take a deep breath</span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">carry on</span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">nothing more to see here</span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">you were wrong</span></span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-47051983856192505312023-04-23T14:22:00.006+01:002023-05-05T15:35:11.592+01:00The Illusion of Safety<p> <i>*This is a new/old project I've been working on. We'll see where it goes.</i></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><u>Chapter One</u></span></p><p></p><p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I waded through the throng of yuppies gathering for their evening cocktails
at Sophie's, the upscale bar where the elite of Milwaukee congregated after
hours. Supposedly the place had a ventilation system, but it was all I could do
not to choke on a toxic combination of cigarette smoke and expensive perfume. My
older sister Louise had worked here for years and yet I’d never gotten used to the
atmosphere, in any sense of the word. Even the contemporary sculptures on the
wall left me feeling vaguely nauseated if I looked at them for too long. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">At the bar I wedged myself between two stools—there was never anywhere to
sit—and scanned the room. Louise was nowhere to be seen. Kip the bartender gave
me a friendly salute and passed me my usual Coke. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The youngish suit on the stool next to me glanced over. When his attention
lingered, I ignored him, hoping he’d take the hint. Like most successful young
men, he didn’t. “A little crowded,” he said, his words just audible over the
din around us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I "hmmed" politely, wishing Louise would surface. At this rate I would
never get home in time for Final Jeopardy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“Are you waiting for someone?” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“Yes,” I answered, refusing to make eye contact with him. I’d made it a
policy not to encourage any of the guys who hit on me at Sophie’s. Not only
were they usually too old, but they were also not even close to my type, and I
was only in town for six more weeks—thank god, because I couldn’t wait to get
out. When Louise had suggested I stay with her for the summer I’d been
grateful, but I was already done with the whole experience. Now I just wanted
to get back to my regular student life at Madison and forget this summer ever
happened.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The suit rotated toward me; I in turn rotated away from him. Undeterred, he
said, “I don't think I’ve seen you here before.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“I guess you weren't looking,” I retorted, no longer even feigning
politeness. I spent almost as much time at Sophie’s as the help, and I didn’t
even get paid. One of these days someone was going to tell me to bus a table.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Actually, I’ve only been here a few
times myself,” he said. “I’m new in town.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You must not be very happy about
that,” I quipped, despite myself. Not that Milwaukee was the absolute worst,
but very few people moved here on purpose, for reasons too numerous to mention.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Before the suit could respond to this, Louise materialized at my side.
“Angie!” she exclaimed, in that disapproving big sister tone of hers. “I’ve
been watching the door for you for ages.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“I had to finish something for one of the engineers. Are you ready?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“Carla called in sick so I’m working a double shift. I tried to call you but
no one answered.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Sadly, I could not argue. The receptionists at the engineering firm where I
was working as a summer temp had an unspoken agreement that at 5:00 exactly our
duty to <i>reception, </i>if you will, ended. Our attitude was almost as bad as
the civil servants who I worked with at my student help job in Madison—if one
of them remained even thirty seconds after 4:30 p.m., it was a miracle.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I let out a heavy sigh. I’d slogged all the way here through the oppressive
humidity and in a pair of really uncomfortable pumps for nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“I’ll get you something to eat,” Louise offered, but the thought of adding
yet another Sophie's hamburger to the dozens I had ingested during the past
month turned my stomach. One of the benefits of my sister’s long-term
employment was that I frequently got my dinner for free, but that boon had long
since lost its charm. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“No, thanks,” I told her. “I'll just go home.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I checked my watch again and scowled. I would
never make Final Jeopardy now.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Louise gave me a hug and melted back in the crowd. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In a huff I sucked down the rest of my Coke and waved my thanks to Kip
before I headed out into the muggy summer evening. On the sidewalk I breathed
the free air and then briefly checked for traffic. This wasn’t a busy part of
the city, at least not after quitting time. I stepped into the road in front of
Sophie’s, mentally reviewing the bus schedule<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“<i>You’re going to die!</i>”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="DefaultText" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-char-indent-count: 0; text-indent: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Startled, I whipped my head back to the sidewalk. A man who
looked vaguely familiar stood where I'd just been, a crazed expression on his face. A pain
pierced my forehead as I wondered why he was crying. When I saw the bus a
second too late I told myself, “<i>No, I won’t</i>,” and the world went black.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-57573464557757744672023-04-10T12:15:00.004+01:002023-04-10T18:15:51.169+01:00Irony<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">This earth<br />my confessor</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">its solace between <br />my fingers<o:p> <br /></o:p>our story unburied
for<br />the rain to
find<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>when did I not
listen<br />when did I
believe without<br />suspicion<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>because the moon is</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">no
advisor <br />and the damp earth a </span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">reminder<br />
that renewal is an act<br />of aggression</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">forced on the
soil<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>if I close my
eyes and whisper<br />my truth to the
spirits<br />will I be
forgiven<o:p> <br /></o:p>for not
understanding this<br />season<br />for wanting an
end instead of<br />a beginning<br />for the terrible
fear that<br />rebirth is a </span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">lie</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0I4oAwe3CIkjgIlJWXAvXhchFhCMuMV0UBRGwB2CwdVLJN1j7ct5Exzvvjynb6VxatpBCjqojREZ9uNoIfcGN0mT35USmAW8pJ2JNgtlcngiwU2HPdVGOtEdqKmte-D2ER12wFnhclDxFHBELQ8DYcxP_yaMQ9agYq1cBVpTw2i8zGOGLG2IvJunftw/s4608/P1080015%20(5).JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0I4oAwe3CIkjgIlJWXAvXhchFhCMuMV0UBRGwB2CwdVLJN1j7ct5Exzvvjynb6VxatpBCjqojREZ9uNoIfcGN0mT35USmAW8pJ2JNgtlcngiwU2HPdVGOtEdqKmte-D2ER12wFnhclDxFHBELQ8DYcxP_yaMQ9agYq1cBVpTw2i8zGOGLG2IvJunftw/s320/P1080015%20(5).JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><o:p><br /></o:p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-40903946726324923592023-02-26T21:21:00.041+00:002023-08-30T10:45:44.960+01:00Old<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">what she feels is <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">no longer<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">yet the cells still remember<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">expanded in size but<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">never courage<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">wisdom another promise<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">time forgot to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">keep</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm6NlnNqA-UTK8fu9iZKBVuC9JhKnNbffguYRxqOpPIeCaclhSQFLHbzU_gfMIC6s01aKXMy3sUwvwxhOBobDTCbsmnzk5aP3_iQCnBtJnEQAoDExmwznt7QjtjDr0nRfzLSlqNfS06T9c8dLSqxFkspQXWuXqkzTdQxv56a-vzR5MkEgWg-zzyXj7sw/s2048/2girlchain.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm6NlnNqA-UTK8fu9iZKBVuC9JhKnNbffguYRxqOpPIeCaclhSQFLHbzU_gfMIC6s01aKXMy3sUwvwxhOBobDTCbsmnzk5aP3_iQCnBtJnEQAoDExmwznt7QjtjDr0nRfzLSlqNfS06T9c8dLSqxFkspQXWuXqkzTdQxv56a-vzR5MkEgWg-zzyXj7sw/w259-h345/2girlchain.png" width="259" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-58075417990909310192023-02-24T14:54:00.007+00:002023-12-03T12:08:28.057+00:00Life Debt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">It was an
unsettling, they said<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">a
conspiracy of silence <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">to blunt
the sharp sticks that<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">pointed at
them<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">once before
time <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">we felt the
smallness<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">until bedazzled
by shinies <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">we became
what they hid<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">now we
watch from the rooftops<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">balance on
wires <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">impervious
to the buzz and<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">the hissing rain<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">scavengers,
they call us<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">a blot on
the landscape<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">their duality
lost as <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">they pick and they<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">pick<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">at the
bones of<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: medium;">existence</span><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p><br /><br /></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-3595817034879301152023-01-19T22:08:00.032+00:002024-01-26T11:32:52.504+00:00Fever Dream<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk4mtnSkX4x8D8CECgInfNXkjNehjYJEbo7JIPSO67J__EW3ZibfR2rkmapquO4zil7xoGp3gIl4mIbFZx9d4TTmuLomcaAe3PpA1gEe-eHjpYmALpJvBO7jmYSqs5uPt6J63_ZG4bK6AOxUPvxzaxayg8fcDLF4lYiHQyuUUPbSXBStcvhhy0a6lBNg/s2048/little%20moon.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk4mtnSkX4x8D8CECgInfNXkjNehjYJEbo7JIPSO67J__EW3ZibfR2rkmapquO4zil7xoGp3gIl4mIbFZx9d4TTmuLomcaAe3PpA1gEe-eHjpYmALpJvBO7jmYSqs5uPt6J63_ZG4bK6AOxUPvxzaxayg8fcDLF4lYiHQyuUUPbSXBStcvhhy0a6lBNg/s320/little%20moon.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Just to the right of
Orion<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">the galaxy we
lived and </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">died in</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">soon</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I never told
you that I<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">soon<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I never told
you that I</span></p>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I hear </span><span style="font-size: medium;">tomorrow crying</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">crying out for you</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">yesterday is so
very sorry<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">and me here at
the end of <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">the story<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">with broken sky no good</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">for flying</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I took a left at Orion<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">only to hear the jackdaws</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">lying</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">lying for you</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I never told
you that I</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">soon</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">could I have told you that I</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">soon</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">in this world we saw right through</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I would saved it</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">for you</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-72327846626355302342022-12-29T21:26:00.001+00:002022-12-30T11:12:23.201+00:00Exit<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiClJKQIwjyV_W9uZ_qQQWrMiJi6FiWWKxBBfGv7YOcAxaOtYFjC0Cbo5u9PlwU4BSSVmd6u7cyjaZQfIXglALCjBJWktcQ3HDCODgLiqmtJ50ZZWxV801Jr9mAxaojJFwsLPfwkx9SMpiz0czAal4knM9APMQs1372eWK_TIejBuyZLG3gaY9vpQG9zA/s4608/P1070443%20(2).JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiClJKQIwjyV_W9uZ_qQQWrMiJi6FiWWKxBBfGv7YOcAxaOtYFjC0Cbo5u9PlwU4BSSVmd6u7cyjaZQfIXglALCjBJWktcQ3HDCODgLiqmtJ50ZZWxV801Jr9mAxaojJFwsLPfwkx9SMpiz0czAal4knM9APMQs1372eWK_TIejBuyZLG3gaY9vpQG9zA/s320/P1070443%20(2).JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I felt it<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">the galaxy moved and I <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">was seen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">an echo lost in<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">the static<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I am cold here<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">but leave me this sadness<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">it is the truest dream I’ve<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">ever known</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><p></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-72275101844816846232022-11-09T08:39:00.002+00:002023-08-30T10:48:22.723+01:00Backwards<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I am the servant of time<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">of a truth I cannot<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">form<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">made of wisps and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">dirt and stolen pieces of<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">lung<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I tried to breathe around it<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">that was always my way<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">until the gasping became a<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">forbidden scarring in the <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">mind<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">do not talk of journeys<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">of hope without destination<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">decades mean nothing to me<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I am still there<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">counting the tick tocks of<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">passing<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">serving a master who knows<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I will never be free</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI79OxlilgSIxMRYfyO4AGGq7cXnr0MdCYuk4Dg2ZLpeIKmL_aitMjeCQsBEYkDJe_yDF32jEuf4bAyM7bSlJ_XysX6MFprpI4BygOfVF0v0x7AFcNjtqSUIacudZ8HvGC75ZbrkCd4x6IpXpI2lwPLqQg3v2chN5m_k3whwmJWD5M3e1vibBNOPIRNg/s4608/P1070383%20(4).JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI79OxlilgSIxMRYfyO4AGGq7cXnr0MdCYuk4Dg2ZLpeIKmL_aitMjeCQsBEYkDJe_yDF32jEuf4bAyM7bSlJ_XysX6MFprpI4BygOfVF0v0x7AFcNjtqSUIacudZ8HvGC75ZbrkCd4x6IpXpI2lwPLqQg3v2chN5m_k3whwmJWD5M3e1vibBNOPIRNg/s320/P1070383%20(4).JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-21235624924582720632022-10-18T22:30:00.001+01:002022-10-18T22:30:29.212+01:00Safe<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">My head hurts.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hmmmn,
says George.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yes,
I answer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sorry,
but I can’t help you there, he tells me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Have
you seen the statue?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What
statue? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
statue, he says impatiently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">middle
of the courtyard.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
don’t go in the courtyard.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
suppose not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You don’t<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">really
go anywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Neither do you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I’ve
got the dolls with knives to<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">worry
about, he reminds me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">your
excuse?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It’s
not just the dolls, I answer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Everything
has knives.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1B-dUaEN7ddQgMAqdvtRCIbm8mMnrWqsAt_-NhA46TRvpGYgTLsshPATDxZx6inkhNkRn3FTP1kEXdESMN7gfhuQ1002kuoZlTQhpfCZDpjIF8ZbfO5g-AhqmCqrCs-2B37JqJqtv7aQtB5WXVQLINBYd95HbBsCJ8QJCiTrutSLPVZGmxwtvoCCxbg/s2048/upstairsdoor.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1B-dUaEN7ddQgMAqdvtRCIbm8mMnrWqsAt_-NhA46TRvpGYgTLsshPATDxZx6inkhNkRn3FTP1kEXdESMN7gfhuQ1002kuoZlTQhpfCZDpjIF8ZbfO5g-AhqmCqrCs-2B37JqJqtv7aQtB5WXVQLINBYd95HbBsCJ8QJCiTrutSLPVZGmxwtvoCCxbg/s320/upstairsdoor.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-67544785210964643472022-10-05T15:17:00.004+01:002023-12-03T14:57:59.364+00:00Buried<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I saw her, once<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">while everyone
was sleeping<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">the indifference
about <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">made her feel
safe<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Show, don’t
tell,” I said<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">and laughed at
the irony<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">she wasn’t
amused</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">after a
lifetime of keeping<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">the pictures in
my head <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">from the words in
my<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">mouth<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">so in silence
we stood<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">the victim and
her warden<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">the baton in my
hand<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">another girl imprisoned </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">by doubt</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_tL6QX9bhfWKn4BBQ6WVyC4yrLAHy-Hba_Ldy8zLkUMNl75TGx6TixoyrwROx2pGo45XGnM-dujt6k0QdG_AXP4FsUpumK9j6nC3FMevTI1uM_esweUGiTeqvt6v4h8Q2REcs02BbzretJImDoANLTgb2PwMKVv-1tIwkxtTYVAHa-I6JLOV9MXrgWg/s2048/nighthouse.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_tL6QX9bhfWKn4BBQ6WVyC4yrLAHy-Hba_Ldy8zLkUMNl75TGx6TixoyrwROx2pGo45XGnM-dujt6k0QdG_AXP4FsUpumK9j6nC3FMevTI1uM_esweUGiTeqvt6v4h8Q2REcs02BbzretJImDoANLTgb2PwMKVv-1tIwkxtTYVAHa-I6JLOV9MXrgWg/s320/nighthouse.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-40093852014751252342022-10-02T10:32:00.001+01:002022-10-06T19:16:42.467+01:00Beginning<p><br /></p><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">They found it,
separately. Sometimes one at a time,
sometimes in small groups, but not together at once. They had shied away from each other, accepted
without argument that certain hallways remain locked to them. What did they want to see each other for,
anyway? They didn’t. They didn’t, and they wouldn’t.<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">And yet something
had brought them all here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <br /> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">They lurked,
uncertain, in the shadowy corners of the hall that surrounded an interior
courtyard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one spoke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one moved.<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">At last a teenage
boy appeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <br /> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">He let himself
into the inner courtyard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He spread a
white sheet out onto the concrete ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On it, with meticulous care, he set red plastic drinking straws—one
after another, never stopping, never hesitating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He paid no attention to the faces peering at him
through the windows.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
Soon the straws began to form an intricate pattern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those hiding in the brick building did not
want to look at it. When they did, they pretended not to understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was it a formula? they asked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kind you needed to be a math genius to
understand, perhaps?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were not math
geniuses, so they would never understand it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Satisfied, they slid away from the windows. All except for the one little
girl who someone had forgotten was there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">A group of pirate
boys living in the courtyard’s largest tree also watched from high in the
branches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They knew what the red straws
on the white sheet meant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They knew it
was a key.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A key to a map that would
lead everyone in the building to the one place no one wanted to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <br /> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">No one, that is,
but them.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZmuKboSMvsw_8Voo22mWnYWh2bAw4Rlkcl-NBZ5DT_rrRd0rp9sGO1GVdX-cYNZ5Ahvjc6OxrNjzhpfFshvGaczHp4YCDzK4c0XxyhC5HfamKtNuoQSM1UaGcOUKYe1UWiJUdfm3sQCH8vnISDXUlnVBNSm5rzkYIvZbddxuMhe09lZSVyxUV_jsPg/s2048/P1070291%20(2).JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZmuKboSMvsw_8Voo22mWnYWh2bAw4Rlkcl-NBZ5DT_rrRd0rp9sGO1GVdX-cYNZ5Ahvjc6OxrNjzhpfFshvGaczHp4YCDzK4c0XxyhC5HfamKtNuoQSM1UaGcOUKYe1UWiJUdfm3sQCH8vnISDXUlnVBNSm5rzkYIvZbddxuMhe09lZSVyxUV_jsPg/s320/P1070291%20(2).JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-58233941996337861212022-08-22T21:58:00.002+01:002023-04-28T10:06:56.586+01:00Make Believe<p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">How we hope</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">craft facts out of</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">fiction<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">these little triumphs of<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">rationalization<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier new, courier, monospace; font-size: large;">only to sing the same </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;"> old cowboy song<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">try again, my love<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">stop looking for wisdom<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">once again you are<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">nature’s victim<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">take a deep breath<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">carry on</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">nothing more to see here</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">you were wrong</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQypw_vzqKoAUPxuX7qtE3YUfj79lhLblgakm9iLdOFK9dp2e08GYg1dKl6cE4AiPwZT032oCpCKJUNQZ0csQd5fFLx2Lwy4MFRZIbPtg3xQTl2Cfw9qSIjh15Fc0_aU9EUKtfmpju_i2kV1Hn6nhsfpwwt6Z5U6ICyaiJAcKz5rKmL3ppEak5kqiwQ/s2048/cave.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQypw_vzqKoAUPxuX7qtE3YUfj79lhLblgakm9iLdOFK9dp2e08GYg1dKl6cE4AiPwZT032oCpCKJUNQZ0csQd5fFLx2Lwy4MFRZIbPtg3xQTl2Cfw9qSIjh15Fc0_aU9EUKtfmpju_i2kV1Hn6nhsfpwwt6Z5U6ICyaiJAcKz5rKmL3ppEak5kqiwQ/s320/cave.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-22168018317502099832022-06-14T11:59:00.004+01:002023-12-03T12:08:47.800+00:00Desolate<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Most remained here with me</span></p><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I gave some to the wind </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">the wind that separated my toes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><span>but something </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span>stayed </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">crept </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">poked </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">inside</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">whispered</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i>never mind the </i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i>frost outside</i></span></div><div class="DefaultText"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i>inside is just as </i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i>cold</i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-2595237121536202752022-06-13T13:29:00.005+01:002022-11-15T16:10:30.250+00:00What I'm currently working on...<p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 0pt; text-align: left;"></p><div style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">So many times I’ve tried to remember that day, and
I just can’t. I know I was young—not even quite five yet. But considering all
that followed, I feel like I <i>should</i> remember. That it’s somehow wrong I
don’t.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Not that I could have predicted the future, of
course. And maybe it was the hysteria taking place around me that led to my memory
wipeout, a kind of watered-down version of PTSD brought on by extreme external
stress. Julia, the one responsible adult in my life, had spent days crying her
eyes out and randomly hugging me. Then, on the morning in question, she answered
the door to the man she equated with Satan and legged it to the kitchen,
leaving me alone with the prince of darkness. Even Alex, the kind of kid who
stuck his unwelcome nose in everyone's business, hid in his bedroom closet. With
those nearest and dearest to me acting as if the Apocalypse had come early, I
must have been terrified.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The man who inspired
this borderline insane response was a 20-year-old college student named Bryan
Jennings. He also happened to be my brother—or half-brother, to be precise. Before
this meeting he’d been a fact I knew but couldn’t quite comprehend. We’d last
seen each other a couple of years before, when I was a toddler, with the result
that I couldn’t remember him. No one told me why he’d dropped out of my life,
and I’d never asked. Even at my young age I already knew that family didn’t
always stick around.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">My present
circumstances had proved that point. Julia wasn’t my mother. She wasn’t even my
stepmother, at least not in the most technical sense of the word; her divorce from
my father Hugo had come through a month before I was born. This is because Hugo
had gotten frisky with the cleaning girl, and I was the unintended result. When
Hugo confessed to Julia that he was about to become a father with another
woman, she packed up their young son Alex and moved out. Although the affair
clinched it, Julia was more than ready to call time on the marriage. The
25-year age gap between she and Hugo, not to mention his endless depression and
drinking, had combined to make living with him a misery. Even if she didn’t
want to admit it, she was relieved to have an excuse to leave.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Because I was living
with my mother, Julia was able to pretend I didn’t exist. That all changed a
year later, when Hugo called her up, drunk as a skunk, to announce that my
mother had died in a car wreck and he was now my custodial parent. Suddenly I
went from being the symbol of Hugo’s treachery to an object of pity, and then
concern. Julia knew better than anyone that Hugo didn’t really want me. He
hadn’t really wanted my mother, either—she’d just been a momentary escape from the
reality he could barely tolerate. Julia was convinced he wouldn’t be the kind
of father I needed, and she was right. He hired a live-in nanny and then continued
to work horrendous hours at his fancy law firm, before he disappeared into his
study every night with a bottle of whiskey.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Julia was horrified.
She was also a divorced woman in her mid-30s who wanted another child. After a
bit of soul searching, she made Hugo an offer he couldn’t refuse: if he allowed
me to move in with her and Alex, she would absolve him of all paternal
responsibility for me. It was a slam dunk for both of them. With me out of his
hair Hugo could carry on with his self-destructive lifestyle guilt-free, while
Julia in turn was gifted a daughter without having to put up with another
useless man. I won, too. Maybe it was a weird arrangement, but it gave me
something more closely resembling a family.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">That was how things
stayed for the next three years. And then Hugo died.</span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;">
</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-90172842673922063412022-05-27T19:10:00.003+01:002022-10-02T10:13:11.263+01:00Truth<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMW_oMMeExK2Lb2ApeBdoz9CmpCeiYlHdCh3ahvVqCy1aXNuXTELt6FE01Fxh8MGyxlSE3EOonrKAU0imS25IFnIWtUKOhG7yQ9kDieuifr4OLAELhy7wx_1ttldHpGqqPZHGMO5a30Poo2jxGhsPM4EiZGvKU-FaQGqiFzT2NUQ_ISpvhrbqWKxLLug/s2048/truthteller.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMW_oMMeExK2Lb2ApeBdoz9CmpCeiYlHdCh3ahvVqCy1aXNuXTELt6FE01Fxh8MGyxlSE3EOonrKAU0imS25IFnIWtUKOhG7yQ9kDieuifr4OLAELhy7wx_1ttldHpGqqPZHGMO5a30Poo2jxGhsPM4EiZGvKU-FaQGqiFzT2NUQ_ISpvhrbqWKxLLug/s320/truthteller.png" width="240" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 14.15pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">All I wanted was one
incorruptible truth to call my own. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 14.15pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But truth is organic, like a
strand of DNA. It can mutate, or combine with other strands, until it evolves
into something no longer bearing even a passing resemblance to its original
self. For too long my truth did just that—twisting and changing, attaching
itself to others and then corrupting them, until it became the worst kind of
Frankenstein. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 14.15pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One that was always going to
come for me in the end.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 14.15pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 14.15pt;"><b>From <i>The Unravelling</i>, now available on Kindle!</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-65433064105390134032022-05-09T15:00:00.006+01:002022-10-02T10:27:53.272+01:00Under<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TZLGGhLdkUPwL8WSCtYVGYmhI6iJAFAv_pKMyZhNSK1-2KP-YFm3Fhn137qIu83-zFoA5PPVO2xip7Bf1GYETY8KIXsiFsHVbK2XTnK89dXt3F1eKfud86jc3aA_CX-BcNHtWbCfb1ve42mYlHSsASq3Hc38HfQs3Oakba0Hvrmu4T07k33iAAhmgA/s4608/P1060960.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4608" data-original-width="3456" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TZLGGhLdkUPwL8WSCtYVGYmhI6iJAFAv_pKMyZhNSK1-2KP-YFm3Fhn137qIu83-zFoA5PPVO2xip7Bf1GYETY8KIXsiFsHVbK2XTnK89dXt3F1eKfud86jc3aA_CX-BcNHtWbCfb1ve42mYlHSsASq3Hc38HfQs3Oakba0Hvrmu4T07k33iAAhmgA/s320/P1060960.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I saw you then the knife<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">always
you first<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">it kills in two
hits<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
would never know<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">back
and forth<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">back
and forth<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">even
once to be close enough<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">how
hard I wished it away<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">but
the lie was everything<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">to
you<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></b></p><br /></div></blockquote>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-47971017261601272562022-05-07T09:28:00.006+01:002022-10-02T10:23:16.533+01:00Burned<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwjfeunZNRX2K7V7OXctW5sEkCKS6MIgaLtdy0K2Q-gioiEnpoFf9Blid9iYaCjOh65zt5DiyX_X_l4KmEitB5FbN2s_2SA_pc2UgOcLH2SuB4PCW74qyHpuo11oHl4eTuX9oi2kFsuWCEt6hQCu6aykesbtkAnfi2QFMIDi1vlqI8bkEVNs_FXTokw/s2048/counting.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1596" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwjfeunZNRX2K7V7OXctW5sEkCKS6MIgaLtdy0K2Q-gioiEnpoFf9Blid9iYaCjOh65zt5DiyX_X_l4KmEitB5FbN2s_2SA_pc2UgOcLH2SuB4PCW74qyHpuo11oHl4eTuX9oi2kFsuWCEt6hQCu6aykesbtkAnfi2QFMIDi1vlqI8bkEVNs_FXTokw/s320/counting.png" width="249" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">were you caught</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">in the firestorm of a million</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">conversations</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">or lost</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">in a dying admission</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">because just one thing I can show</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">and that is I am
here </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">without
you </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">alone</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><o:p style="font-weight: normal;"> </o:p></div>
<br /></h3>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-51586069926911304352022-05-04T07:54:00.003+01:002024-02-19T11:38:12.385+00:00Warped<p><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">“I’m here because he loves you.”</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;">Megan
laughed a little, even as tears of desperation streamed down her face.</span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;">“I used to think that, too,” she said.</span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;">“Star-crossed lovers, like Romeo and Juliet,
kept apart by warring families.</span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;">But you
know what?</span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;">It’s bull shit.</span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;">If he’d really loved me—I mean, really,
really loved me—he wouldn’t have left.</span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;">And he did."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;">Alturis
gave a dismissive wave with his knife. “You don’t know how men work.</span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;">We leave what we love.</span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;">It makes us feel powerful.”</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">“That’s
ridiculous."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">"So you say, because you are a woman."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">“You
mean sane.”</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;">“The
truth is crazy sometimes." </span></span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; font-size: x-large; text-indent: 36pt;">Alturis</span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; font-size: x-large; text-indent: 36pt;"> chewed thoughtfully on his salad, before he added, </span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; font-size: x-large; text-indent: 36pt;">“Or
maybe he didn’t want you to see him bald.</span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; font-size: x-large; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; font-size: x-large; text-indent: 36pt;">A man wants to be remembered with hair.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">“He
didn’t know he was going to be bald, did he?”</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;">“Well,
look at his father--b</span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;">ald as a pig’s
bottom,” Alturis said.</span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Mongolian Baiti"; text-indent: 36pt;">“Sometimes,
the fear alone is enough.”</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2OBbVhT2qfhGtgxAH82QWzLSKq8nKLHnYEV56H6NL5I_aqmvD0b0ohTI01LBsz0KQHxMrQSOTT_Un2sGdcs7Z6esBVjqoNWbx5TEH2qiZZE8WWl582TWs4j49lEEUwOLCT3M-NFzanvYCiYIGOWWmMNcR_32TFQ4SxYz8KhKFN58ZfxwcxRY7AMASFw/s4608/P1070904%20(6).JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2OBbVhT2qfhGtgxAH82QWzLSKq8nKLHnYEV56H6NL5I_aqmvD0b0ohTI01LBsz0KQHxMrQSOTT_Un2sGdcs7Z6esBVjqoNWbx5TEH2qiZZE8WWl582TWs4j49lEEUwOLCT3M-NFzanvYCiYIGOWWmMNcR_32TFQ4SxYz8KhKFN58ZfxwcxRY7AMASFw/s320/P1070904%20(6).JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4657491954544660994.post-17976617051284092872022-05-03T07:09:00.003+01:002022-05-03T07:14:51.743+01:00Cold<p> </p><div style="margin-left: 36pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -36pt;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -36.0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">my nighttime
disguise </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">this
ink-stained mystery </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -36.0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">wrapped in broken </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">bloodied
history</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;">which ring do I hold </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;">which soul do I own</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;">will
the blood in my veins </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; text-indent: -36pt;">turn into snow</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">or should I sink</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">sink</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">sink</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">find a new home</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">deep in the drink</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;">do I bear
witness </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;">can I name the
crime </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;">will I break their
hearts </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;">will they break
mine </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">only to
limp not to
run will
I speak will I
jump</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">here where we
cross</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span>where I fly fly
fly </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span><span> </span> where words lift off the
ground </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">open up the sky</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I say no
more <span> </span>not
tonight</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">if it wants to
live<span> </span>I
will not watch it die</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">just to
see just
to fail </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">a tiger once caught</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">by the tip of its tail</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span> </span><span> </span>farewell</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;">farewell</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>my fairy tale</span></span></p></div><div style="margin-left: 36pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -36pt;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 108pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">farewell farewell…</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 108pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><br /></div></div><div style="margin-left: 36pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -36pt;">
<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnFZUeXvRg9cHvFDNhjT7Jx361s9aKizQLoMzZdm1EWH2jICk4flfpDlQ3eIRg5g8Av2t-_S_qho41c89r4spigpqDx5_94yIBibw8DMUqfU1BYuVypWXioVjdAMLZfz1KgA4QtTe9s2w2oWWXw9Sg64006H0T770fiKd_Vk0CaTa5ymVH-hIttNd6XQ/s2048/innocence2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1526" data-original-width="2048" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnFZUeXvRg9cHvFDNhjT7Jx361s9aKizQLoMzZdm1EWH2jICk4flfpDlQ3eIRg5g8Av2t-_S_qho41c89r4spigpqDx5_94yIBibw8DMUqfU1BYuVypWXioVjdAMLZfz1KgA4QtTe9s2w2oWWXw9Sg64006H0T770fiKd_Vk0CaTa5ymVH-hIttNd6XQ/s320/innocence2.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />M.M. Hornbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01329718449550489052noreply@blogger.com0