BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 25. Street Rules

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Peter entered Operations and addressed everyone who was working on the list of possible suspects by occupation: “We can cross mailman off the list. Only driving carriers operate in the target area, but they’re women or white.”
    Taylor said, “I’m not seeing anything with the day-care centers. There are three within our target area but not one of them has a man working there.”
    Bobby said, “There are four school buses that pick up and drop off kids, but two have women drivers and the other two have men over 60, one black and one white.”

All Over the Place: Songs in a Summer’s Window

By Michael H. Brownstein

wind
night falling but not yet
a glitter within trees
leaf lime to emerald to dark green
silence
within wind

Acting Citizen: What about those who know better?

By James Knudsen

While much of the nation was breathing a sigh of relief on January 20, 2021, I was enduring self-inflicted turmoil from the Facebook universe. In fairness, I fired the first shot. Immediately after Joe Biden took the oath of office, I sent a two-word statement via Facebook Messenger. The message was, “It’s OVER.” The recipient was a former classmate who has persisted with his belief in “The Big Lie.” Make no mistake, he’s through the looking glass. Up is down, down is up, Biden lost, Trump won, IN A LANDSLIDE!!!

14 Years Ago Next Week: Monday Musings

I took this photo in the gardens
of the Rodin Museum in Paris
on April 27, 2016

By Moristotle

[Originally published on January 29, 2007, without an image.]

The other day I had occasion to share with someone something that I have thought for many years:

God [if God exists] can communicate with us any damn way God pleases [that is, through the Bible, the Quran..., the angelic kindness of a stranger...]

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 24. A New Plan

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Mary flew past Taylor and Blake’s doors, threw open the door to Operations, and went through to her office without saying a word to anyone. She closed her door with a bang. Peter heard it slam and went to see what was wrong, passing Bobby sitting at the computer table. Opening her door a few inches, he asked, “Are you all right, Mary?”
    Mary was already intent on starting up her computer. “I’m fine! Close the door. I have work to do. And tell everybody to leave me alone for a while.”

Highways and Byways: Runners with the Devil

By Maik Strosahl

I lived in North Central Indiana for many years, a very flat farming area. On the occasion of the first decent snow there, we wanted to find a sledding hill. The only one around was a small dip on a golf course. The kids seemed to enjoy their time, but I was bit disappointed. I remembered the great hills that surrounded my elementary school in Moline and a real Radio Flyer sled with runners. Those were great sledding days! And where did all those lost mittens go?


The locals here
use two inches as an excuse
to cut through the cemetery,
to ride the ridge,
the one by the creek
on that par three fifth,
dropping twenty feet in a saucer
to the squealing delight
of four-year-olds
who climb back up,
unconcerned with the dangling clip
and a missing mitten
or its remaining widow.

Boldt Words & Images: Calavera Number Six

By Bob Boldt

Artificial skeletons are hardly ever displayed

now in thought or in sight.

Shop windows are voided of all but surgical masks.

Imagine what all the uncut pumpkins

must think of the strange ones this year.

Moses Addresses the Israelites

Trump Style

By Tom Harley

[Originally posted on Sheep and Goats, March 26, 2020. Republished here by permission of the author.]

And the sons of Israel proceeded to come out of the Red Sea. They congregated and Moses addressed them:

Martin Luther King Jr. and Albert Camus

For MLK Jr Day...

By Moristotle

...we could read Bob Boldt’s April 4, 2018 column, “Boldt Words & Images: Martin Luther King Jr. & Me.”

“An ear in a glass of alcohol”

Lessons from an Outlier

By Marshall Carder

[This essay appeared originally on WordPress, posted on March 20, 2016, prior to the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States. Republished here with the permission of the author.]

The rise of Donald Trump as a serious contender for President has elicited an avalanche of criticism aimed at stopping this impending catastrophe in its tracks. Comparing his rapid ascent to that of the most reviled figure in recent history, Hitler, is so common that it may have lost its power to disgust. The tired analogy is generally thrown around mostly as pure hyperbole by both sides of the political spectrum, but in Trump’s case that is chillingly not so. In a few short months he has gone from a laughingstock orange carnival barker to the overwhelming favorite to gain the Republican nomination, and he has done so with a sordid mix of lies, insults and incitement which can only be understood properly if you have lived through this type of thing before. There is a good reason that the experts and pundits failed miserably to notice his sick and widespread appeal. They have not witnessed first-hand what “normal” people will resort to when the rhetoric and circumstances have ignited their inner furies and primal fear. There is almost nothing they won’t do in defense of their “principals” (read Rights).

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 23. Another Body

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The price of a good time on the lake was a hangover the next day. The ride to work was painful and quiet. Each brother was fighting to keep the coffee down and hoping for the aspirin to kick in.
    By the time they had parked at A.P.S., they were ready for another coffee. On their walk to the entrance, Taylor came up from behind them. “We need to go to Operations, another body was found last night.”
    Blake’s eyes widened. “Does Wayne know?”

All Over the Place: A Gathering of Mirrors

By Michael H. Brownstein

I am past fifty and wondering where I am going with this.

Hanukah has ended, Christmas is past, Kwanza is gathering mass.

A hundred feet from the trail, the horse barn has the smell of horses,

Sweat and sawdust stained and sticky, mold drenched in snow.

Susan’s Stuff: mmmy sharona, blood on their hands

Detail from painting

By Susan C. Price

i include my notes as commentary.

“Never met one I didn’t like”

Excerpt from one of my books

By Tom Harley

In the ministry one evening in upstate New York, I approached a man about to launch his hobbyist drone. I told him I had never seen one up close and he invited me to watch. It took off. He guided it up and over the street, over the rooftop of the neighbor’s house, and I saw in his viewfinder what the drone saw. Yes! There it was! As he suspected, his first mini-drone had come down over the house and was stuck in the gutter.

BODY COUNT: Killers (a novel): Chapter 22. Steak and Beer

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It was a beautiful fall afternoon for going to the lake, the ideal kind of a day to drink, have a barbecue, and catch up on life. It had been a year since the two brothers met face to face and a lot of water had gone under the bridge for both of them. There was very little conversation on their trip to Arkabutla Lake, other than about the weather. There was a lot to talk about, but they both wanted to be relaxed before they opened that box.
    Blake parked in the drive at the front of his trailer, which ran north and south, with the back side facing the water. He always entered the trailer by way of the kitchen. There weren’t even any steps leading to the front door. Getting out of the car, Tony remarked, “I see you never got around to building that house you and Beth talked so much about.”