Overheard at the Counter: Some Scribbles

 Scribbles

2025-0504
#Erotica280 #1212 Response
    She wrote a poem
    and he wrote a reponse
    
    Their words danced
    and swayed

    back and forth
    step by step

    hand in hand
    across the room

    of negative space
    infinite wireless
    connections
    
#Erotica280 #1218 Xanadu

On her couch, some clothes unbuttoned,
she asked me what I thought of Xanadu.

So I told her of her pleasure domes
and fertile grounds,
to be watered by sacred rivers
blossom those incense bearing trees!

and she
said, “I mean the Olivia Newton-John movie.
I’m in an 80s mood.”

Well, I thought,
as I looked for it on Prime,
at least she wasn’t talking about
that god-awful Rush song.






#horrorprompt 1812 Game

“It’s just a GAME!” Artichokie said
as he brought the bat down on the man’s head.
“Why do you keep shouting at Aiden?”

“I’m … I’m sorry!” said the man,
holding up a hand,
begging him to stop.

Another crack, across the jaw.
Teeth flew against the basement wall.

“Every game!  You tell  your son
to run.  Run here!  Run there!  What the hell
Aiden, you scream, Get your head in the game!

Well, Carver, is YOUR head in the game NOW?”

The bat came down
again
and again

but Carver didn’t respond.
He didn’t hold up a hand
begging to stop.
Carver was out.

He would never yell at Aiden
again






#horrorprompt 1811 Bone Cracker

At Fort McCoy, they were getting ready
for the orders to move on Chicago.

Clear out the sanctuary city.

They knew they’d face some pushback,
so they painted names on their tanks,
names like:

Tianenmen
Bone Cracker
Matamojados







#horrorprompt 1810 Electrode

As they put the electrodes on my skull,
I knew that they were going to change my
brainwaves.  They said they were just going
to test my sleep patters, but I knew they were
up to much, much more, but still
my wife held my hand and said it was going to be
ok and I wanted to make her happy and now
I’m awake and she’s not around and they are
telling me that she died years ago but
they were wrong she was
JUST
HERE



#horrorprompt 1809 Drill

The last thing I remember was them putting the drill against my kneecap but I didn’t have anything to tell them that I hadn’t already told them but now I know that it was never about knowledge or information it was only about pain and they destroyed me for no other reason that that they could

Overheard at the Counter: The Quote Garden

Just found this today!

So excited!

 

https://www.quotegarden.com/about.html

 

 

 

 

Overheard at the Counter: Saoirse's Last Day on Earth

He hadn't eaten for two weeks.

No water for over a week. They say a cat can only last for three days, but Saoirse lasted for a week.

Every few days or so, he would put his lips to the surface of the water, make some tiny noises, but no other movement.

Once, he puked green bile into the bowl.

He had wasted away to the point where he couldn't even stand up.

The bones of his spine felt like the plates of a Stegosaurus.

Every day, those last two weeks, as he wasted away, I kissed him on his head, as I had done for 18 years.  And I rubbed him under his chin, as I had done for 18 years.

I knew that this day would be his last day.   I don't know if he knew, or even really cared.

I say that because Saoirse was a special kind of cat.  Cool.  Coolest cat - ever.

He had spent 18 years, never really crying, never angry, never snapping at anybody - not other cats, not other humans.  He lived life on his own terms.  He came up to you when he wanted, he walked away from you when he wanted.  

He slept.  A lot.  

His days were spent lounging on the couch, to the chair, to the bed, to another bed, to a spot on the floor.

He always had a look like he didn't really care what happened.  That's cool, dude, I'm just here.  Go do what you gotta do.  I'm chill.  

But he always sat in my lap while we watched movies or tv shows.  At dinner time, also, he'd jump up on the table, not to eat any food, but to come over to me and put himself down in my lap.  He didn't care that I was eating.  My purpose, Saoirse seemed to say, was to be his chair.

I don't think I will ever be another cat's chair the way that I was Saoirse's chair.

We love that cat.  He was truly the best cat.   All cats are special creatures, and some are more treasured than others.  But Saoirse, he was one of those rare cats, truly in a league wholly his own.

No cat, unfortunately, will ever compare to that cat.

Overheard at the Counter: A Brief Intro to Haiku

Brief introduction:

Haiku: seventeen syllab

les - five, seven, five

 

Developed in Japan in the 17th Century, to be short, compact, as a reaction to long-winded poems.

Traditionally, the third (last) line is a counterpoint (or even a non-sequitur) to the first two lines, usually eliciting an image of nature.

The first master of Haiku (the man who perfected the art) is Basho.  Below is a link to his more famous haiku.

https://www.masterpiece-of-japanese-culture.com/literatures-and-poems/famous-haiku-poems-matsuo-basho

From what little I understand of Japanese, it's a lot easier to pack a boatload of meaning into seventeen syllables, whereas in English (and other Eurocentric languages) there are many "filler words" (articles, conjunctions, etc) which are essential to convey the subtleties of the poetry.  Thus, many who write Haiku in English tend to ignore the strict syllable rule, but generally keep to the three lines.

For myself, I have committed myself to adhering to the 5/7/5 in my Haiku, but I'm not going to bash others who don't.  It's my attempt to focus myself.  I have tried to keep the naturalist imagery on the last line; but that's really hard to do and I only succeed in about maybe a tenth of all my Haiku.

 One of which I am particularly proud is "Flee" from a horrorprompt, which I also put to "music"

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0KgbFZQrog

 

 

 

Overheard at the Counter: Insomnia at Least Churned the Creative Juices

2022-1214
Things thought of between 12:11 am and 4:30am

Couplets:
 

    Shooting blanks into a barren womb
    The only thing we’re making here is love

    How is 2022 treating you?
    Slightly better than 20 and 21 … how about you?

    Two couplets gazed into each other’s eyes
    and asked, “Are double-minded people always Geminis?”

 

#Horrorprompt:

    
He called himself the #promptmaster.
    (With the hashtag)
    He threw prompts onto Twitter like food into a fishbowl
    and all the little writers nibbled, and they wrote

    and they wrote, and he savored their glorious words,
    fed upon their prose, and the more he feasted,
    the thinner they grew;

    and when they started to die off and flake away,
he created new prompts,
    looking for newer, fresher, more hearty
    talent.


    
    Martin scrolled through her TL
    looking for clues: a streetsign in the background
    of a selfie, or a comment about the weather (he
    cross-referenced with local reports), a name drop
    of a restaurant she’d been,

    until one day, he found where she lived.

    So, he got himself ready to meet her.

    Stuffing his duffel bag, he said to himself,
    I’m not some snivelling soyboy.
She’ll learn not to call ME “Incel.”
    She’ll learn not to block all my accounts
    and most important,
    she’s gonna learn what love is!




Song:
    The Long and Winding Road
    The percussion is a piledriver.   Metallic clanging.  Hammer on anvil.
    Pauses at the beginnings of new verses can have wind sounds and/or risers.
    Acoustic guitar, played hard.
    Vocals like Tom Waits
    Perhaps a distorted bass guitar, perhaps just a few chords on meaty electric
    toward the later verses, a little snap of a mandolin, just to give that tiny bright offset
    
    The main version of this song is syrupy, and all covers have been wishy washy.  
Making it like a Tom Waits song will give it some real grit!


Post:

    Me [waking up at 1:18am]: No worries, I’ll be back to sleep in five …
    
My Insomnia: Hello there!  Glad to see you’re up!  Hey, remember that offhand snark you made to the VP of Sales yesterday?  Let’s go over all the ways that’s gonna come back to bite you in the ass!

    Me: Fuck you.

Insomnia: More like ‘You’re fucked!’  … because you also have that big project you haven’t even started and year end is in like, what? TWO WEEKS!  Better strap yourself in, pal.  It’s gonna be a looong night!


    
All the other things that were on my mind were just thoughts about work and what I need to do today.

Overheard at the Counter: Jet Blue (Two Demos)

 Jet Blue

An hour late board and I’m never getting home
Jet Blue
It’s not for you
Jet Blue
It’s not for me or you.

This station’s utter chaos
There’s no plane at the gate
When it comes they’ll have to clean
They always make us wait
Jet Blue
It’s not for you
Jet Blue
It’s not for me or you.

Some guy in the corner
He don’t know what to do
The airline sent his luggage
All the way to Katmandu
Jet Blue
It’s not for you
Jet Blue
It’s not for me or you.

They said that we’d be boarding two hours ago
Jet Blue
It’s not for you
Jet Blue
It’s not for me or you.

Another hour gone I’m never getting home
Jet Blue
It’s not for you
Jet Blue
It’s not for me or you.

Overheard at the Counter: American Pie (November 8, 2022)

AMERICAN PIE (NOVEMBER 8, 2022)

A long long time ago, I can still remember
How Democracy used to make me smile
And I knew that every few years
I could vote for or against my peers 
And they would be in office only for awhile 

But this November has made me shiver
With every post on IG and Twitter
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step

I can't remember if I cried
When I read about this Fascist Pride
But something touched me deep inside
The day Democracy died

So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Lexus to the Nexus
But the Nexus was dry
Some good old boys were eatin’ burgers and fries
Singing, "This'll be the day that it dies
This will be the day that it dies”

Does your front yard sign say LOVE IS LOVE
Or do you proclaim faith in God above?
If the Bible tells you so
Do you carry a gun with your Cross?
Do  you think Springsteen’s still the Boss
Or just another Libtard so and so?

Well I know that we’re all in love with sin
We just disagree on which we like to enter in
We both put up our fists
Wishing the Other didn’t exist

Well as a centrist, I was stuck
With a rainbow sticker on my pickup truck
But I knew that we were completely fucked
The day Democracy died

CORO

Well for eight years we had Barack O
Which made all the Republicans say Oh hell NO!
And that helped them gain unity
The Electoral College installed the Orange Clown
Our institutions started crumbling down
And walls went up between you and me

Now the Lizard look down at the border
And took away babies from their mothers  
Which the Clown thought was fun
He said, “Lookit those babies run!”

And while the clown sent love notes to Lil Kim
Impeachement shadows lurked over him
Pastors prayed for the Seraphim
To usher the day Democracy died

CORO

Then a little bug from Wuhan flew
across the world, killed a million or two
Everyone around the globe was falling fast
The Clown didn’t know what to do
“Wear a mask?  Well it’s up to you!
Drink some bleach and shine a light up your ass!”

Now 2020 ended with perfect sight
We thought we’d stopped the wrong of the Right
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance

'Cause the losers tried to take the field
Because the Clown refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day Democracy died?

So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Watched my Lexus change its sexes
But its sexes was bi
Some good old boys were eatin’ burgers and fries
Singing, "This'll be the day that it dies
This will be the day that it dies”

Now out in Arizona there's a crazy Lake
Who says she won’t concede the race
And vows that the Clown will run again
And in Georgia a Walker’s gonna go far,
This mentally bifurcated football star
Gonna give the Reds a touchdown in the end

Now the Wizard sold magic weight loss pills
Now the’s the cure for Conservative Ills
Even though he was late
In moving to the state

And as the votes were contested into the night
And we all were blinded by the Right
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day Democracy died

CORO

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
She said her pronouns were them and they
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
Store was closed, cuz everything’s in the cloud, anywayyyyy

And in the schools, the children scream
As the bullets fly and the rifles gleam.
So many words are spoken
The church bells are just tokens

And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
They said, “Good luck, fools, ‘cuz your country’s toast”
The day Democracy died

CORO

Overheard at the Counter: Brokeback Oklahoma!

Lucky Moran: Hear me out!  Rogers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!" ... only reworked in "Brokeback Mountain" style!

Neill Carter: That fookin' nuts.

Lucky: No it's not!  It'll be a hit.

John Steppenwolf: So the Farmer and the Cowman are not only friends, they're now lovers?

Lucky: With their own grow and dispensary!

Otis Redwing: Won't work unless over half the cast is PoC.

Lucky: Way ahead of you!  At least two characters will be trans.

Neill:  Definite hit.

 

Overheard at the Counter: Uvalde and the Church

During these past two days, we have heard many voices opining about the horror in Uvalde, TX, when, on Tuesday, 19 children around the ages of 9 and 10 and 2 adults were massacred by an 18 year old psychopath.   We have heard the politicians weigh in, local law enforcement, national law enforcement, the NRA, liberals and conservatives of all stripes, have all commented with their opinions.  News outlets have covered all angles, from details to debunking conspiracy theories to comparing this tragedy to past tragedies, etc etc.

One group that has been strangely silent is the Church.   And by "Church" I do not mean any specific church, I mean the body of believers of Jesus Christ, the lord and savior of humanity.  Apart from one black pastor praying at a vigil, I have heard no other representative of the Church speak to this tragedy.  Not the two pastors at the church I attend, not the leaders of any megachurches in nearby cities (Austin/Dallas/San Antonio/Houston), not the Southern Baptist Convention, nothing from the Episcopalians or Methodists.   Only the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church, has spoken out, saying that America needs to get its act together.

But for the Protestant faiths?  Eerie silence.

The silence is due to the fact that the church in America has been wholly usurped by the Conservative right wing, which values unfettered access to deadly firearms over the life of any innocent child.  The church knows who pays the bills to keep the lights on, and it sure ain't God Almighty.   It's the Republicans, die-hard believers in 'Murica.  

This shames Jesus Christ.

Romans 12:18 ... as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Romans 12:15b ... mourn with those who mourn.

I could quote other passages, but these are the two important ones here.  Regardless of any person's belief about gun legislation, the Church MUST be clear and direct with its message:  we HAVE to preach a message that we ALL have to leave in PEACE with each other.  PEACE above all else.  We have to teach it day and night.  We have to tell our children and others' children and strangers that the only way for goodness and light in this world is NO VIOLENCE, EVER!

If we do not do that, we turn our backs on God.  And He will repay us for our betrayal.

For the second passages, the Church MUST reach out to the Uvalde survivors, and their families, and flood them with love and understanding, not with speeches or with platitudes, but just with the simplicity of BEING THERE, with them, in this need.

We must mourn with those who mourn. Weep with those who weep.  We must share their pain, we must show them the empathy that our Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated to us by His life and His sacrifice upon the Cross.

If we do not do this, we shame His holy name.  And we are not worthy to be called His followers.

There is no middle ground here.  This is not a time to be silent.  This is a time for the Church, the body of believers, the followers of Christ, to stand up and show strength and faith in Him, that we will resist violence, that we will comfort the afflicted (both victims of violence and those with the potential to commit violence), and that we will defy evil in all its forms and that we will overcome evil with good.

If we are not prepared to do that, then we should shut the doors of our church, hold ourselves silent, and never speak of Him again, because we will not be worthy to utter His glorious name.

Amen.

Overheard at the Counter: Why Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" is Not a 10/10 Album

Why Born to Run is not a 10/10 album.

First, let me start by saying what a 10/10 album is in my book:

Each song is great, and the track listing makes a greater unified whole (basically, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts).

Second, my approach to music in general is that it has to be both interesting AND melodic.

That said: let me go, song by song (and I’ve re-listened to this album just now to make sure it was all fresh in my ears).

Thunder Road – great song, piano start, with adding instruments build up.

But this effect was done much better by Stones on “Can’t Always Get” and by Bob Segar.  Guitars sound a bit too thin.   

Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out – got a nice groove, but this song sounds like it would be better if done by Steely Dan.   Vocals are annoying.

Night – Sounds like a Jim Steinman tune done sloppily.

Backstreets – Tempo too fast.  This song would be improved by slowing it down and making it darker.   Vocals still screechy.  

Born to Run – the hit tune from the album, and rightly so.  This is the track where the production and the performance all come together.   I would have added some acoustic guitars to fill out the mix, but that’s just me being a lifelong Who fan.

She’s the One – everything about this song has already been done in other songs on this same album.  This could have been cut from the whole disc.

Meeting Across the River – musicianship is great, and the production really works on this.  Again, though, his vocals make it sound somewhat ridiculous.  Should be more subdued, or even half-spoken (like Tom Waits)

Jungleland – Like Born to Run, this is one in which the production really works.   This is anthemic at its best.  Fun and over the top.  Great song.  (again, the Who fan in me just hears the Who in this song).

So … basically, I never said it was a horrible album.  Like my review of “Born in the USA” – the songs are solid: great lyrics, musical structure is sound.  The songs are great.  The issue is with the production.  Not every song needs to be hit with a sledgehammer.  A lot of Springsteen’s tunes get stronger whenever you strip them down to basic elements and slow the tempo.  If this was done on half the tracks, then the rockers (title track, Thunder Road, and Jungleland) would sound even better.

Overheard at the Counter: The Different Types of News

The other day I heard on a local radio program an upcoming discussion about what exactly is journalism, now that there are so many people engaging in it.  Can it be impartial? Is it merely a bunch of content creators? etc.

The question itself angered me, because this program was a local NEWS program.

So, after mulling it over for about a day, I have come up with the following distinction between different types of news, using a common and familiar headline:

FACT: Cop Shoots Man.

JOURNALISM: White Cop Shoots Unarmed Black Man.

LEFT WING SPIN: White Cop with History of Using Excessive Force Shoots Defenseless Black Man.

RIGHT WING SPIN: Decorated Police Officer Shoots Man with Long Criminal Record.

LEFT WING PROPAGANDA: Cops Out of Control!  We must Defund the Police!

RIGHT WING PROPAGANDA: Crime Out of Control!  Libs Want to Take Your Guns!

FAKE NEWS: [there is no description here because there is no such thing as Fake News.  The term "Fake News" is a rhetorical device used by the Right to impugn Left Wing Spin, Journalism, and even Fact itself]

For me, I would only consider Fact, Journalism, and the Spins as "News"

Propaganda is not "News" - it merely masquerades as news.  It probably is the true "Fake News" but I wouldn't want to give that term any more credence than it already has.

 

 

Overheard at the Counter: In Memoriam ... Verble Gherulous

Hello,

I keep drafting this post and it doesn't seem to write itself well no matter how I draft it, so I'll just come out and say it.  My uncle, Verble Gherulous passed away on December 8, 2021.   One day after his 80th birthday.

While he was really a private person, I know that he had a few good friends from his Twitter time, and I hope that they know that he really enjoyed his interaction with them.  He actually encouraged me to get more on social media as a way to grow as a poet, and some of those friends are now mine.

For anyone who didn't know him: he was an avid reader and audiophile, of the kind that you don't see any more these days.  He hated ebooks, preferred to read physical books, and he truly despised streaming music platforms.  He constantly bemoaned the rise of Apple and how it killed the album.  

He is survived by his wife, his two children from that marriage, 3 children from previous marriages, plus 2 step-children from his second wife.  And even though he often said that most of his contemporaries had already passed away, I hope he knew that he was indeed loved by all those who had the chance to know him.

Over the years, he and I had worked on this blog, swapping ideas for stories, plays, comedy sketches, and just general goofing around.  He always had the vision of the Café as a place where people could come and swap ideas, but that never really took off, and I know that kind of made him a bid sad.  It was kind of a chess game, he'd knock off an idea and I'd try to flesh it out.  And while over the past year or so, he worked on it less and less frequently, but I plan to keep up the blog in his memory.

My uncle was a Christian, in the best way.   Even though these last few years, he seemed to be saddened by his own aging and the decline of the state of the world, he held onto his faith and that gave him great comfort.  I know that he is now in Heaven, and all this earthly pain is behind him.  And I know that he is at peace.

I love you, Uncle Verb.

MR

Overheard at the Counter: Back Room at the ZTAC

 

Photographer unknown, but this is a photo of one of the back rooms of the Zen and Tao Acoustic Cafe.

Whenever the night goes longer than anticipated, Verble sometimes crashes here, curling up with a good book to wind down the evening.

Overheard at the Counter: Daily Tao Who?

Should I be flattered or shattered?

https://musicandsunshine.com/blog/privacy-policy/

Overheard at the Counter: Horrorprompts from 2019

"Jeez, OK, kid, here you are!" Verble says, slapping some pages on the top of the counter.  "These are all my writings for Horrorprompt for 2019."

"The kid wants 2020 as well," says the Barista.

"I need a nap," says Verble, leaving the pages there and walking away.

The Horrorprompts of Verble Gherulous

 

 

 

Book One: 2019

 

 

May 28, 2019

 

For 15 long years he had sneered at her for everything.

 

For her cooking.

For going back to school.

For how she performed in bed.

 

Now that answer had been erased by her kitchen scissors.

 

She would not miss that sneer.

 

 

 

May 29, 2019

#horrorprompt 284: tiny eggs

 

This lovely enigma in Raybans and a purse-lipped smile had flirted with him all afternoon at the poolside bar. 

 

Back at her room, she unlocked the door, pulled off the sunglasses, exposing eyes like tiny eggs.

 

Mouth opened: pincers.

She lunged.

 

 

May 30, 2019

#horrorprompt 182: sealed inside

 

Smiling wide, he encouraged the prospective home buyers to knock on the walls that he had framed, sheet-rocked, and painted himself.

 

"The insulation," he said proudly, "is the best that humans can make."

 

Because that's what was sealed inside.

 

June 3, 2019

#horrorprompt 286: wrapped.

 

Wrapped in chains, he sank in the water.

Struggling, he suddenly realized: No escape!

 

He would drown!

 

Frantic, he wondered why the faces outside the glass tank did nothing to save him.

 

Damn! he thought, They think this is just part of the show!

 

 

June 6, 2019

#horrorprompt 287: benevolent love.

 

The monks always welcomed strangers who wandered in from the road.  Such folk were always very welcomed at dinner.

 

And with benevolent love, the monks always ensured the wayfarers went to sleep peacefully before being prepared for the feast.

 

 

June 10, 2019

#horrorprompt 272 last sunrise

 

In the early evening hour,

they turned to see the last sunrise

rise in the east.

 

This final dawning, crowned

in a mushroom cloud,

 

beautiful,

glorious,

 

sent waves of heat

roaring over them,

 

turning flesh to ash,

setting their souls free.

 

 

June 12, 2019

#horrorprompt 288 Last Word

 

After 53 years of his verbal abuse, Grace now watched Roy struggle with his last breaths.

 

"You never let me speak, all these years," she said, "but I get the last word: it's what I put in your nightly tea."

 

She leaned in and whispered, "Cyanide."

 

 

June 18, 2019

#horrorprompt 289 Kill for Me

 

"Who would you kill for me?" she asked.

 

"Anyone," he said.

 

"Liar," she said.  "You wouldn't kill your daughter for me."

 

He stammered a bit.

 

"It's OK," she told him, leaning in close to kiss him.  "I've made sure you won't have to."

 

 

June 20, 2019

#horrorprompt 290: Skinned Alive

 

She was so happy to work for this director, who was known for intense realism.

 

But when he readied the actors to shoot the scene where they would be skinned alive, she understood too late that, this time, when he said, "CUT!" he meant ... BEGIN!

 

 

June 24, 2019

#horrorprompt 291 Layers of Silt

 

Running along the riverbank with his friends, Benny’s foot sank through several layers of silt.  Something grabbed his ankle.  Pulling up, he saw the hand.  The dead hand.

 

Benny screamed.

 

The nightly news told of the girl, missing for 15 years.

 

 

 

July 7, 2019

#horrorprompt Two Drops

 

The old librarian told me, "Back in those days, any man who went to the gallows never wanted the hangman to be 'Two-Drops' Callaghan."

 

"Why's that?" I asked.

 

"Because the sadistic prick would drop you once, then pull you back up and drop you again!"

 

 

 

July 11, 2019

#horrorprompt 294 emaciated remains

 

They were nothing but emaciated remains of what once were human beings.

 

My fellow GI's and I watched in silence as they lumbered out of the camp toward the medics' trucks.

 

I looked up at the sign above the gate.

 

It read ARBEIT MACHT FREI

 

 

July 13, 2019

#horrorprompt 295 stranded

 

After the firefight and his squad was pushed back, Frankie was stranded behind enemy lines. 

 

He tried to hide under a burned out jeep but he saw their boots &heard their laughter and he didn't know their language but he knew "die amerikaner ist tod"

 

 

July 31,2019

#horrorprompt 297 Unending Scar

 

When they came,

when the aliens finally came,

we knew immediately we had nothing

that could stop them.

 

The roar of their engines flattened the trees,

and their weapons ripped the night sky into

an unending scar.

 

 

July 31, 2019

#horrorprompt 298: Greasy Hair

 

It wasn’t the matted, greasy hair or the dirty fingernails or the feral eyes, or even the way the boy was hunched over, rocking slowly back and forth….

 

it was his smile, eeking out around the half-eaten rat that was sandwiched between his teeth.

 

 

August 2, 2019

#horrorprompt 299: Sweltering Heat

 

San Salvador 1982

 

The girl walked to school in the morning, backpack slung over one shoulder.

 

In the sweltering heat, soldiers burned the bodies of dead protesters and revolutionaries.  

 

The smoke rose to the sky.

 

And permeated everything.

 

 

August 6, 2019

#horrorprompt 300 End Times

 

"Welcome to the End Times café," our host said with a sweep of his arm.

 

We stood amazed by the wood decor & plush velvet curtains.

The room was thick with the smell of gasoline.

 

Then, we heard a chain locking the door... & the click of his lighter.

 

 

August 12, 2019

#horrorprompt 301 Glorious Agony

 

The masochist had foregone the safe word.

 

The crank was turned and the screws twisted him into paroxyms of glorious agony.

 

Glorious, yes, until the sadist, inexperienced at this machine, turned the crank one rotation too far.

 

 

August 20, 2019

#horrorprompt 302 - Obliterated

 

What if I could indeed feel the plaque as it wraps around the synapses of my brain?

 

Would it make sense of all this?

 

Or do I just stay numb to the knowledge that in my brain the recognition of my dear wife's face will one day be obliterated?

 

 

August 27, 2019

#horrorprompt 303 Left to Wilt

 

What was it about the flowers, she wondered, left to wilt in the vase on the table?

 

She ran the blade of the pruning shears across her lips, tasting

 

the faint tinge of the blood of the suitor, who will never come to call no more.

 

 

September 5, 2019

#horrorprompt 304 Eviscerated Entrails

 

The Amazonians hung the anthropologist from a tree & eviscerated him.

 

As his entrails spilled on the forest floor & the members began to feast, he thought, "Ha! The bacteria in my intestines will decimate your tribe!"

 

He died smiling.

 

 

September 17, 2019

#horrorprompt 306 Natural Causes

 

Midnight, small town, speed trap.

 

The sheriff blinded me with his flashlight as he looked over my license, saying "You city boys shouldn't race through here like y'all do. You likely to get shot.  'Round here we call that dyin' a natural causes"

 

 

September 27, 2019

#horrorprompt 307 Peachy

 

Kevin always had a feeling that we would die gruesomely, in great pain.

 

So, when the car stalled underneath the bridge just as the 18 wheeler overturned on the overpass and came careening down on him, he murmured "Well isn't that just peachy."

 

 

October 1, 2019

#horrorprompt 308 Let Me Show You

 

We'd been dating a month.

 

I said, "You're the sweetest kindest person ever!"

 

She said, "You don't know me."

 

I said, "Yes I do."

 

She said, "Let me show you," as her hand grabbed the skin under her jaw line and she began to pull her skin...

 

 

October 8, 2019

#horrorprompt 309 Behind the Mask

 

My dad's new wife smiled sweetly, always, and always told us she loved us and was glad to get to know us.

 

I knew at the reading of the will would be the moment we got to see what was behind the mask.

 

 

October 16, 2019

#horrorprompt 310 Weakening Grip

 

Raul awoke at the Hyatt Centric to find bombs strapped to his chest & his hand clasping a dead man's switch. He knew he had to run: throw himself into the Hudson.

 

Hand cramping, grip weakening, he rounded Times Square, bumping into Naked Cowboy

 

 

October 22, 2019

#horrorprompt 311 Thinning Old Guard

 

The thinning old guard of vampire hunters went looking for some new recruits.

 

Finding some, at the start of the interview, they asked, "What interests you about this opportunity."

 

The recruits bared their fangs and said, "Your blood!"

 

 

November 8, 2019

#horrorprompt Plague Doctor

 

Our village was a peaceful one, nestled high in the Pyrenees.

We had never known want, nor disease.  We lived on fresh produce and clean air.  We had not need of a physic ... until that cursed day when, into town

 

came the Plague Doctor.

 

 

November 21, 2019

#horrorprompt 315 Permafrost

 

A millennia.

Maybe ... two.

 

I have forgotten Time.

 

But I have not forgotten how much I love

to feast on fleshlings, those sacks of blood and water and

bone ... oh yes,

 

and now, I can feel the permafrost

thawing, & I shall soon

be

 

disinterred.

 

 

December 8, 2019

#horrorprompt 317 The End

 

11:59pm

 

Our host raises his glass for a toast.

 

We all raise ours. 

 

"To THE END!" he says triumphantly, then he drinks; then, we drink.

 

I lean to my spouse. "Does he mean 'of this year'?"

 

"Wait ... what's in this drink?" she asks.

 

 

 

December 27, 2019

#Horrorprompt 318 Suicide King

 

His name was Jesús. We called him "Suicide King."

He always drew fire from us so that we could take cover.

He always was first to clear the houses.

He said he did it so we didn't have to.

 

Fittingly, it was on a Good Friday when he hit that IED.

 

Overheard at the Counter: 100 Songs

MR steps up to the counter and says, "If Lou Reed can list his 100 songs, then so can I."

Niall Carter says, "Yeah, but Lou Reed was Lou Reed and you're, well ... you."

John Steppenwolf says, "Don't listen to him.  Whatcha got?"

MR slaps a list down on the counter ...

Artist Song
1 The Beatles  Come Together
2 Heart  Barracuda
3 Ozzy Osbourne Crazy Train
4 Deep Purple Woman From Tokyo
5 Glenn Miller In the Mood
6 Benny Goodman Sing Sing Sing
7 Jethro Tull Wond'ring Aloud
8 Buddy Holly Everyday
9 Gungor This is Not the End
10 Simon and Garfunkel America
11 Rosie Thomas Kite Song
12 The Smiths Cemetry Gates
13 Dire Straits Six Blade Knife
14 Howlin' Wolf Spoonful
15 Taj Mahal Linin' Track
16 Beethoven Moonlight Sonata
17 Beethoven Fur Elize
18 Tom Waits Gun Street Girl
19 Mississippi John Hurt Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor
20 Bruce Cockburn Pacing the Cage
21 Ricardo Arjona Ella y El
22 Bacilos El Edificio
23 Third Eye Blind Semi-Charmed Life
24 Gordon Lightfoot The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
25 The Beatles Dear Prudence
26 The Pogues feat Kirsty McColl Fairytale of New York
27 Dave Alvin California Snow
28 Cry! Cry! Cry! Cold Missouri Waters
29 Paul Simon Train in the Distance
30 Te Vaka Tautai E
31 Telek Midal
32 The Temptations Can't Get Next to You
33 David Byrne and Marisa Monte Aguas do Marcao
34 Billy McLaughlin Fingerdance
35 Black Sabbath Paranoid
36 Ramones I Wanna Be Sedated
37 The Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter
38 The Charlie Daniels Band The Devil Went Down to Georgia
39 Sly and the Family Stone Everyday People
40 Richard Thompson 1952 Vincent Black Lightning
41 James McMurtry Choctaw Bingo
42 Warren Zevon Desperadoes Under the Eaves
43 Andy Prieboy feat. Johnette Napolitano Tomorrow Wendy
44 John Newton Amazing Grace
45 Haim Hallelujah
46 The Who The Real Me
47 Ten Years After Circles
48 Be-Bop Deluxe Crystal Gazing
49 Neil Young Thrasher
50 Robin Hitchcock Glass Hotel
51 Bob Dylan Visions of Johanna
52 ABBA Take a Chance on Me
53 Pat Benatar Heartbreaker
54 The Runaways Cherry Bomb
55 The Kinks This Time Tomorrow
56 The Who Join Together
57 Kermit the Frog Rainbow Connection
58 The New Pornographers The Bleeding Heart Show
59 Meat Loaf Paradise by the Dashboard Light
60 Iron and Wine The Trapeze Swinger
61 Elizabeth Cotton Freight Train
62 Barenaked Ladies When I Fall
63 Barenaked Ladies Light Up My Room
64 Richie Havens Ramon
65 Chris Tomlin Jesus Messiah
66 Barenaked Ladies This Is Where It Ends
67 The Woodentops So Good Today
68 The Weepies Can't Go Back Now
69 Janis Joplin Me and Bobby McGee
70 Marshall Tucker Band Can't You See
71 The Chemical Brothers Dissolve
72 Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit If We Were Vampires
73 Foday Musa Suso feat Kronos Quartet Tilliboyo ("Sunset")
74 The Guess Who No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature
75 David Bowie Memory of a Free Festival
76 Lou Reed Satellite of Love
77 George Thorogood Who Do You Love
78 Allman Brothers Band Little Martha
79 Sam Baker Pony
80 Warren Zevon Excitable Boy
81 Blind Faith Can't Find My Way Home
82 Fiel a la Vega Solamente
83 Juan Luis Guerra Testimonio
84 Randy Newman Dayton Ohio, 1903
85 Simon Wynberg Mariah's Watermill
86 Jefferson Airplane Lather
87 Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention Dinah-Moe Humm
88 Jethro Tull Mother Goose
89 Trout Fishing in America Back When I Could Fly
90 U2 Bad
91 R.E.M. King of Pain
92 William Orbit/Strange Cargo El Ninjo
93 Frente! Bizarre Love Triangle
94 Penguin Café Orchestra Telephone and Rubber Band
95 Queen 39
96 Ambrosia Harvey
97 Los Lobos Tony & Maria
98 Blitzen Trapper Furr
99 Brandi Carlisle Have You Ever
100 Rob Hyman feat Cyndi Lauper Cyrus in the Moonlight

Overheard at the Counter: A Fine Line

Niall Carter sits back on his stool at the counter and says, "They say it's a fine line between genius and madness.  I think I just erased it."

Overheard at the Counter: And So It Ends...

 and so it ends, this miserable year, and we are left wondering how this will be treated in the history books.  Will 300,000 dead have their eulogies?  Will the meanderings of the flaccid politicians be endlessly discussed?  Will the poets have their say?  What will be the final verdict upon our rampantly dissolute culture?

And who is going to get their "I SURVIVED 2020" t-shirt?  

Overread at the Counter: Haiku "Woman at Window with Bird"

Haiku

He painted still life
"Woman at window with bird"
The books were askew.

MR

2020-1202

Overread at the Counter: on the screen above the counter, reads ...