Walt Trizna's Blog, page 40

MY ATTEMPT AT WRITING POETRY: WALLS

 Published by New Worlds Unlimited in Treasures of the Precious Moments in 1985.                                                                                                 

                                   WALLS

I’m just marking time,

And can’t explain why

When the door opens

I kick it shut.

A wall was built some time ago,

The seams mossed over

So nothing can penetrate,

The wall’s purpose, lost with the key,

Yet the prisoner finds the wall insecure,

Builds walls within walls,

Breaks into himself only the find emptiness,

And the final realization comes too late,

The walls protect nothing,

And nothing was saved.

MY ATTEMPT AT WRITING POETRY: SPRING’S PROMISE

Published by New Worlds Unlimited in Mysteries of the Lyric World in 1988.

                     SPRING’S PROMISE

My breath frosts the winter scene from my eyes

As I peer out the bedroom window,

Trees bend their naked arms

As cold north wind gives them life,

The lawn, the hue of hay

Bristles with the wind,

I look to the future

When my world will once again fill with life,

I look to my wife round with life herself

And the sound of the promise of spring

Rings in my ears.

MY ATTEMPT AT WRITING POETRY: WAITING TOOL

   Published by New Worlds Unlimited in Mysteries of the Lyric World in 1988.

                                WAITING TOOL

A pencil sits poised

Waiting to give life,

As a sculptor creates form

From the essence of marble,

So, the words await

Needing a sculptor of thought.

MY ATTEMPT AT WRITING POETRY: MY CHILD SMILES

Published by New Worlds Unlimited in Memories of the Halcyon Days,1987.

                                     MY CHILD SMILES

My child smiles

For she knows nothing of the world

And that is good.

My child cries

And she knows nothing of the sorrow of the world

And that is good.

My child laughs

And that is good for the world.

UNWELCOMED GUESTS: A GHOST STORY

On one side of my property, some eight to ten feet deep, is a gully. I was told some time ago that this gully belonged to a railroad. I have seen an arial photo, taken perhaps in the 50’s, showing tracks at the bottom of the gully. I’ve also been told that they were either train or trolley tracks. I     began thinking, What if there was ever an accident down there?

 Unwelcomed Guests was accepted for publication by Necrology Shorts in February 2010.

UNWELCOMED GUESTS

Will Trizma was a writer of ghost stories and mined the local countryside for legends and their settings.  The area abounded in both.  His wife, Joan, acted as his editor and sounding board for his ideas.  At times, the only comment she would make is, “You’re sick.”

Not only did he write ghost stories, but he also dreamt of them.  One night he conjured a most vivid story; a story from the future.  But unlike most of his dreams, he could not remember this tale.  The only recollection he had was that it was horrifying.

                                                           * * *

It was the evening of August 15, 1949.  The time was slightly before ten as a train made its way toward West Chester.  There were fifteen souls aboard, counting the crew and passengers on this quiet summer night.  The steam locomotive was pushing a caboose and two passenger cars.  The weather had been stormy for days and up ahead the foundation of the bridge spanning Ship Road had been undermined by runoff.  Jim Purvis, making his last run in a fully loaded fuel truck, slowly crossed the bridge.  As he reached the span’s center, it collapsed leaving the truck astraddle the tracks. Jim could not believe he was still alive considering the load he was carrying.  Although injured, he managed to climb out of the ravine and go seek help.

As the train slowly made its way into a depressed section of track, the conductor, Ben Elliot, sat on the caboose’s platform and began filling his pipe thinking about sharing a late dinner with his wife.  He looked down to light the pipe, and once achieving a satisfactory burn, he puffed contently, and then looked up.  The sight before him made his scream, “Holy sh…!  He never finished the expletive.

The caboose rammed the truck, followed by the cars.  The locomotive cut through the wreck until it reached the truck exploding the gas tank and turning the wreck into a funeral pyre.

                                                           * * *

Writing is a lonely profession, and years ago Will sought out a local writer’s group for support and editorial advice.  During a Christmas dinner attended by all the writers, Will and Joan suggested a summer party and volunteered to hold it at their house.  As the day of the party approached, one spouse or two became sick and others were called away unexpectedly on business. 

Will and his wife greeted their guests, their thirteen guests.

Their dog, Millie, a lab mix was her usual excited self with the arrival of every new visitor.  Once everyone was there, she settled down and dozed in the sun.

The conversation was lively with all the creative minds present, and as dusk approached, Will was called upon to tell a ghost story.  “Not dark enough yet,” he answered.

Dessert was served, and when there was no longer a hint of sunlight, and with the patio bathed in twilight, Will deemed the time right for his tale and went into the house.  He returned with candles, one for each table, after extinguished all the inside lights.  “Now we have the right atmosphere,” he said.  Will began his story and even Millie appeared interested, her eyes reflecting the candlelight. 

The weather had been rainy the last few days, and at ten as he began to read, Will noticed a mist begin coming out of the gull bordering one side of his property.  A few guests had asked him earlier about the gully and he answered that it had once harbored a railroad track.

The mist became denser and soon overtook the yard along with the guests.  One by one they all fell asleep, including Millie.  As the wall of fog enveloped all present, fifteen human shapes began to form.  The specters slowly made their way to the dozing, and one by one, entered their bodies.

The next morning, they awoke from their deep sleep and knowingly smiled at one another.  Ben Elliot looked around, and Will’s eyes filled with tears.  “We’ve waited sixty years for this moment.”

Millie awoke and growled.  She knew there was something terribly wrong with her master.

                                                      THE END  

MY ATTEMPT AT WRITING POETRY: CITY MORN

Accepted for publication by Expressive Arts Review, 1974

             CITY MORN

Sunlight filtering thru elevated

Roadways,

Dawn, finding its way thru twilight

As the sleeping city greets another

Day,

Delicate steel webs vaulting gray

Rivers,

Ribbons of concrete conveying

Sleepy-eyed travelers,

The hush of night giving way to

Din of traffic,

Morning-sky reds lost to haze,

Another day begins.

GENISIS: A SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY

This is an unpublished story.

                                         Even endings need a beginning

                                                     Genesis

Dan Holbrook spent hours of his life looking up at the night skies.  It was his job and his passion.  He taught astronomy at a small university located in the high California desert.  The location offered spectacular views of the universe, a universe that was about to change his life and the future of the planet, forever. 

   Dan was thirty-six, tall and lean, with a scruffy appearance, not a slave to fashion.  He married his college sweetheart, Amy, right after graduate school ten years ago.  Now they were a family of four with two daughters: Jenny age eight, and Heather six.  His daughters loved exploring the desert during the day with their mother, searching for minerals and lizards.  At night they studied the sky with their dad.  

With a PhD in astronomy, along with the reputation for making significant contributions to the field of asteroids and comets, Dan earned a small amount of personal time on the telescope at Caltech.  On one clear winter night Dan was studying the asteroid belt beyond Jupiter when something caught his attention.  It was a fuzzy dot where none had been before.  When he brought it into focus, he realized that it had passed Jupiter, and was now closer to the Earth.  This was not unusual, for asteroids were often found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.  He made a record of this sighting in his notebook and snapped a picture.  He noted that its apparent magnitude, or measure of brightness, was +25 – extremely faint.

Dan decided to keep track of the asteroid remembering how in 2002 Asteroid 2002-MN passed within seventy-five thousand miles of the Earth.  It had been the size of a football field.  He doubted there was any danger, but he always believed ‘better safe than sorry’.

The following year, Dan once again was given the opportunity to observe the heavens from Caltech.  Early that day, he reviewed his notes from the previous year’s observations.  He had forgotten about that faint speck between Jupiter and Mars and wanted to observe it once more.  That night, peering through the telescope he easily found his quarry, but now it was slightly brighter with an absolute magnitude of +20.  Dan became excited, and said out loud, “Holy shit, I may be witnessing an important event.”  He knew he had to follow its progress and write it up for a journal article, needed to ensure his notes were meticulous, and then contact other observatories to confirm his sighting.

The next year he published an article describing his findings and continued to keep track of his discovery, and at every viewing the object grew in brightness.  There was only one explanation for this.  Dan decided to contact a colleague and friend, Ralph Warner, to explore ideas.

After a few attempts, he finally reached Ralph.  “Hey, buddy, how you doing?  I’ve got something I’d like to pick your brains about.  I’ve spotted a distant asteroid and wondered if you could study it using your telescope access?”

Ralph said, “I read your article just the other day and found it interesting.”

Dan asked, “Can’t you just take a peek at Jeneather?”

“What’s that?” Ralph asked.

 “That’s what I call the asteroid, named after my two daughters.”

  Ralph had limited access to the Hubble and Chandra orbiting telescopes.  It was with these instruments that Dan wanted Ralph to ‘take a peek’.

Ralph answered, “Dan, do you know how precious time is for the Hubble and Chandra?  I can’t just peek at things.  I know this was your discovery, but the opportunity to observe it has to stand in line, a very long line.”

“I appreciate how valuable time is on the orbiting telescopes, but your observations may be able to figure out exactly what this object is and, more importantly, determine its future.”

Ralph replied, “Dan, follow its progress; when you know more – maybe then.”

Dan could hear the frustration in his friend’s voice, but he harbored just the hint of hope that Ralph might try to ‘take a peek’.  Neither of them would know that in the future, all eyes on the Earth would be following the course of Jeneather’s progress.

One night the following year Dan had his daughters in the backyard looking up at the sky.  He enjoyed pointing out the constellations to them and the visible planets.  Their enthusiasm warmed his soul.  The two girls, now eleven and nine, were in awe of the sky and would compete to see who could name whatever their father pointed out.

While looking skyward, Jennifer asked, “Where is Jeneather, Dad?”

Dan said, “Honey, you can’t see it without a telescope.  Then he pointed to a region of the sky where someday he thought the object might appear.

Jenny screamed, “I can see it, Daddy.  I can see Jeneather.”

Dan stood there, perplexed.  The asteroid, which should not yet be visible, was there.  He knew that was it, for there should have been nothing else in that little piece of the sky, at least not visible with the naked eye.  He told his daughters, “Let’s go inside, it’s almost bedtime and Daddy has a lot of work to do.”

Both girls protested, “We want to look at Jeneather,” but Dan had much on his mind and the girls were ushered inside.

“Time for bed girls and Jeneather will still be there tomorrow.”  Leading his daughters into the house, he yelled, “Amy, could you get the girls ready for bed?  There’s something I need to do.”

Without waiting for a reply, he went to phone Ralph.  Ralph was expecting a call from Dan; he picked up the second ring.  “Ralph, you can now see the asteroid I discovered in the night sky without a telescope.”

  “Yes,” Ralph said, “The object now has a brightness of -5, as visible as Venus.  I’ve been expecting your call.  Things are being kept quiet for now, but soon the entire planet will be watching the sky.  Dan, you discovered a rather significant asteroid.”

 “Dan, the speculation from the scientists who have closely studied this object is that the asteroid you discovered collided with another asteroid in deep space.  That collision resulted in a change of both their orbits.  Your asteroid is on a journey through our solar system.”

Dan paused, and then said, “That’s what I thought.  It’s heading toward us.  That’s why it’s getting brighter.  And that’s why we can now see it in the sky.  How close will it come to Earth?”

There was a long pause from Ralph, and then he said, “We’ve been tracking the asteroid’s progress.  Right now, we feel it will pass between the Earth and the Moon, closer to the Moon.”

“We’ve dodged the bullet.”  Ralph could hear the relief in Dan’s voice.

“Dan, this asteroid is irregular in shape, but at its widest part, it has a diameter of over 500 miles.”

“Christ, Ralph, what will that do to the tides and the tectonic plates?”

Ralph was quiet for a while, and then said, “We are still trying to estimate the scale of the damage this asteroid might cause, but between you and me, we’re in for a rough ride.”

“I just can’t believe it.  Life could be changed, forever”.   Dan’s voice was shaky.  “Thanks for the update, and please keep me informed.”

Ralph responded, “I’ll tell you what I can, and keep this to yourself for now until we have a better handle on what we’re facing.  We don’t want to cause undo panic.”

            The conversation ended and Ralph sat silently in his office.

He could not tell his friend the truth; he was sworn to secrecy.  The asteroid would be a catastrophe to the Earth as it passed.  But that was just the tip of the destructive iceberg.  Once it passed the Earth, this massive asteroid would impact Venus, perhaps obliterating the planet, or perhaps propelling Venus into the sun.  This would cause a change in the influence of the gravitational pull of the Sun on all the remaining planets.  The Earth could possibly change its location to replace Venus.

Unless measures were taken, unprecedented for an endeavor where all people must work together for the benefit of mankind, humanity was doomed to extinction.  Even now, all the major industrial nations of the world were in secret talks.  They knew the timetable.  They had five years to save mankind.

                                                                 THE END

MY ATTEMPT AT WRITING POETRY: THE WIND HOWLS

The Wind Howls was published in 1979 by New Worlds Unlimited in their anthology, Visions of the Enchanted Spirit.

THE WIND HOWLS

The wind howls a mournful tune,

The winter is deep and the night long,

Frost paints a lacey scene

on darkened windows

as we lay here

with only a single wavering candle

mellowing the room,

We touch, Caress

fighting off the winter chill,

Fighting off life’s hard cold,

Next to you life is summer

on this December night.

The sun grows,

A flame burns on.

We are one.

YOU KNOW YOU’RE GETTING OLD WHEN . . .

You remember what the value of a dollar once was. When young, living in Newark, New Jersey, I would ride the bus from my house to downtown, a distance of around two and a half miles. The fare was twelve cents.

A WRITER’S DILEMMA REVISITED

                      

Less than eight hours after posting yesterday’s piece where I mention that I thought a writer did not get enough feedback from an editor when your work is accepted for publication I was notified by and editor that short story of mine was accepted for publication, and why it was accepted.

So much for that opinion. I felt I needed to relate to you, at least in this instance, I was wrong.

This story has an interesting history.

I began writing it a little over twenty years ago. It’s gone through many rewrites and many rejections. I finally realized that the premise worked but the approach was all wrong and unbelievable. I finally got the writing right.

I’ll let you know where and when it will be published.