Darkening Sky

Talisman

COLM IS SHOT, SOLIDLY.

The hospital is out of the question, those will be canvassed. McGregor’s mansion has proven a grave error— the Tiarna still has the talisman. The blood drains: the old man is handy with a pistol.

His belt a tourniquet, Colm heads to Nessa’s — where else can he go? Despite her anger, the healing ritual cast in circle. Foolhardy bravado: Colm feels useless, helpless. She cradles him closely as the sky begins to darken.

McGregor stands high on the balcony, laughing savagely: darkness flows into him. Quietly, his servant pushes him over the edge.

RedBoxPlainSm*[ WSB ].

Drink the Wine, Get in the Box and Shut Up

JackinBox

Version | Gustave Dore

I’m about to pitch a fit.
                         [BoomBlam!
                               BoomBlam!]

I’m getting tired of all this ՖꝝᴉꞱ.
                                [BoomBlam!
                                BoomBlam!]

You’re not working by the sweat of your back.
You just rise,
                             eat,
                                        and then hit the shack.
You got to work       jerk;
don’t play all day.
Do you comprehend
what I say ?
If all you want to do is       cut up,
then:

drink the wine,
get in the box,
and shut up.

RedBoxPlainSm*[ WSB ].

Ron Cuzowski

PrimeBeefGreen

Well, his wife’s name is Cindi;
and his dog’s name is Fozzy Bear;
And he lives about two blocks from The Cruiser
And I know—‘cause I saw him there.

His name is Ron—
Ron Cuzowski !
His name is Ron—
Ron Cuzowski !

⸻He’s just a Polish boy from Michigan,
Moved on down to San Anton’:

Now he works for *SARPMA
—and calls Texas his home.

*San Antonio Real Property Maintenance Agency

RedBoxPlainSm*[ WSB ].

Drink the Wine!

DrinkWine

I’ve been stranded in the country
with the cows and the swine.
I’m going back to the city to

[rum pum rumpa pum pum]

drink the wine !

Lately I’ve been lonely;
I haven’t felt fine,
but I get better when I

[rum pum rumpa pum pum]

drink the wine !

If you don’t like your group,
please join mine.
If you want to get in the box, just

[rum pum rumpa pum pum–rum pum rumpa pum pum–rum pum rumpa pum pum PUM]

drink the wine !

RedBoxPlainSm*[ WSB ].

*Beginning of /Ulysses/ by James Joyce |Versification|

Stately,

plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairs,
bearing a bowl of lather;
a mirror and a razor lay crossed.
A yellow dressinggown, halfdoffed
gently behind him: the mild morning air.
The bowl aloft, he intoned:
— Introibo ad altare Dei.
Coarsely he called up | down the dark winding stones :
— Come up, Kinch ! You fearful Jesuit, come pray.

Solemnly forward, mounting the gunrest round,
he blessed gravely thrice:
the tower, surrounding country, awaking mounts.
Catching sight of Stephen Dedalus;
bent, he made rapid crosses in the air,
gurgling his throat, shaking his reason.
Dedalus, displeased and sleepy, leaned
arms on the top of the staircase, looked
coldly; the shaking gurgling face, blessing —
equine length, untonsured hair:
pale oak.

Mulligan peeped under the mirror, a stroke;
covered the bowl smartly.
— Back to barracks ! sternly.
[Priestly]:
— For this, O dearly beloved; the genuine
Christine: body and soul and blood and ouns.
Slow music, please. Shut your eyes, gents.
One moment.
A little trouble about those corpuscles ashen.

Silence, all.

razormirror

*[Paraphrased from:  “Ulysses” — James Joyce]

RedBoxPlainSm*[ WSB ].

The Lunchtime Incident

THE PERPETRATOR MOVES through the lunch line, dining only a secondary concern.   When the fiend nears the condiments and silverware: the true objective occurs surreptitiously, hardly noticeable: whole handfuls of napkins are scooped from the stainless steel holders; nestled in waistband under the tent-like shirt.

        Just before the next-period bell, the thief runs unseen to the top of the sophomore hall staircase, where he doesn’t belong, breathing heavily, adrenaline spiking.

The mob of noisy adolescents echo in the stairwell, hundreds of napkins snow down onto the perplexed students.
W.T.F. ! ? !

The Napkin Beast strikes again !

napkin

RedBoxPlainSm*[ WSB ].

Separation Narrative:

Ribbons1

SUFFICIENT SERVICE FOR RETIREMENT:

Basic Military Training, 6 Weeks, Apr 85;
NCO Leadership School, 4 Weeks, Aug 91;
NCO Academy, 6 Weeks, Jul 97;
USAF Senior NCO Academy, 7 Weeks, Sep 03.
Subject to Recall to Active Duty
by the Secretary of the Air Force.
20 Years, 08 Months, and 26 Days:
Plumber. Aircraft Mechanic. 16 medals. 16 devices.

/ / NOTHING FOLLOWS / /

RedBoxPlainSm*[ WSB ].

Neutron Collision

NeutronCollision

Detail version | University of Warwick/Mark Garlick

Teaspoon tons compress;
the star core fossil checked by
Pauli exclusion.

Let there be lightshow
when the gravity waves spread;
unlike the black holes

with infinite point
in the Cartesian aether,
black as an inkwell.

Glitches and starquakes
spin down to a spherical
shape — the waltz begins;

Two neutron stars meet,
spiraling kilonova:
a golden mushroom.

RedBoxPlainSm*[ WSB ].

Paper Box

barcode
Just a box, standing
on the landing
in front of the door,
waiting to be opened.
Hoping not to be snatched
as a porch-pirate score
before the lifting latch:
the portal widening.
♲ [Flatten Before Recycling]
Box Certificate

RedBoxPlainSm*[ WSB ].

M. sinocanadorum

m_sinocanadorum

Detail version | Júlia d’Oliveira

Ten feet longer than a school bus
the neck of Mamenchisaurus
sinocanadorum reaching out
like a crane boom swinging around
for a lunch of canopy crunch.

Planted while eating plants—neck out there
thirty degrees: vertebrae filled with air.

RedBoxPlainSm*[ WSB ].