House Without a Roof

So I got it a little better. Now the text is all small. I have a monospace version on the post page. I actually kind of like that one better.

Brick by brick the house rose
The mortar was laid with care
Building blocks
s   l  o  w l y    c a me together
Ready for the roof, we
                                        lowered
                                        the final
                                        touch.
But before it reached
the walls
there was a sudden gust of wind and we saw
The mortar hadn't
set
Bricks lay strewn
We, devastated.
Our shelter had collapsed,
Our sole protection from the world.

But we started again,
A new foundation,
brick by brick,
like Sisyphus we worked,
the wind never subsiding,
our task never complete,

Monospaced

Brick by brick the house rose
The mortar was laid with care
Building blocks
s   l  o  w l y    c a me together
Ready for the roof, we
                       lowered
                       the final
                       touch.
But before it reached
the walls
there was a sudden gust of wind and we saw
The mortar hadn't
set
Bricks lay strewn
We, devastated.
Our shelter had collapsed,
Our sole protection from the world.

But we started again,
A new foundation,
brick by brick,
like Sisyphus we worked,
the wind never subsiding,
our task never complete,

Sound

crescendo

i was paralyzed
the sound of the drums and the synthesizers
a slow melody building from the heart of my brain, expanding outward
down the spine, out through the nose and mouth, pressing against my cheeks
that sound
pressing harder and harder on my ears, it surrounded me, pounded me
dumbfounded
i had to close my eyes, as the pressure built
trying to keep it all in
i didn’t want to let go this time
the music was mine and mine alone

silence

waves receded as i exhaled
i cracked my eyes to light rising
over the crowds and buildings and roads that take everyone home again
the morning’s peace disturbed only by shuffling, coughing, an engine rattling on
the muses gone
there were no birds
i lie alone again

still

Turn

When the solid state of
the iron-clad contracts
melts
the pot of gold
into ingots and
wired loops of
communication with the
dead air around us
the only thing left
is hot gas
driving the car
through the turn
of the century.

Conversation

This week our writing activity was the following:
1. Everyone write down 2 characters (like George Bush and the Easter Bunny)
2. Put all the entries in a hat
3. Everyone draw two entries
4. Write a dialog between the characters you drew.

The characters I drew were The Mighty Thor and President Taft. All I knew about Thor was that he was Norse, the god of the vikings, and much like Zeus otherwise. The only thing I knew about Taft was that he was a fat president with a mustache that got stuck in a tub once. My conversation follows:

Thor: (Booming from heavens) Stop eating, you madman!
Taft: (Twitches mustache) I'm hungry.
Thor: You are fat!
Taft: I am president!
Thor: How do you propose to explore your world...where you exist from MY benevolence?
Taft: I intend to not. I intend to finish my meal.
Thor: You fat wuss!
Taft: Come down here and say that to my face, you arrogant bastard.
Thor: (Appears with a bang across from Taft at his table with lightning bolt in hand, towering over the entire room) YOU FAT WUSS!
Taft: (Blinks. Wipes mouth) Excuse me. (Stands)
Thor: WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!
Taft: I intend to take a bath before my speech.
Thor: HA! ENJOY THAT "SPEECH"! (Disappears with a boom)
Taft: (Thinking) Whatever that meant.
(Later)
Taft: Why can't I get out of this tub?