Victor D. López's Blog: Victor D. Lopez, page 12

Free short story download through February 20, 2022: Earth Mother

If a visitor from another world were to offer you the gift of telepathy and immunity from all disease for the rest of your life for a small service, would you be quick to accept, or would you look a gift horse in the mouth?
This is a short story reprinted from Book of Dreams Second Edition (C) 214 and Echoes of the Mind’s Eye: 13 Speculative Fiction Short Stories (C) 2020. A mysterious visitor from another world wakes a young, ambitious woman in the middle of the night to deliver an intriguing o...

Free through February 13, 2022: Mergs (or Why Godot Can’t Come)

This is one of 13 short stories from my Echoes of the Mind’s Eye collection. You can download the ebook version of this short story in all major formats free until February 13, but only from Smashwords by clicking here.

In a world that worships power and raises human beings onto pedestals erected from the insubstantial building blocks of ego, hubris, and self-delusion, it is no wonder that we look for meaning and enlightenment in all the wrong places. We turn a dismissive eye to human sufferi...

What price to Live the Dream – Free though 2/7/2022

If you realized too late that you had made a terrible mistake in life that you could not correct, what price would you be willing to pay for a chance of redemption? the protagonist in this short story has devoted his life to just such a task, and achieved unprecedented success that could quite literally change the world. But it has come at a very high price–the death of two colleagues who prematurely opted to test the system without his knowledge or consent. Now the government funding is about t...

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream (teaser poem and free download link for the complete short story through 1/31/22)

In Spring I Dreamt of Summer’s Sun

In Spring I Dreamt of Summer’s Sun
In spring I dreamt of summer’s sun,
And all the things that I’d get done.

In summer I did dream of fall,
And lovely times we would have all.

In fall I dreamt of winter’s due,
When rest and travel would come true.

And now that winter’s finally here,
I dream of all the wasted years.

I dream of times we should have shared,
When all were still alive who cared.

I dreamed away my life it seems,
Instead of living it, I dreamed.

Longed for tomorrow every day...

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream (teaser poem and free download link for the complete short story through 1/31/22)

We sleep at night secure we think,
That surely we’ll awake,
But what if dreams would others link,
Intent to our mind take?

Our brain gives birth to consciousness,
Though science knows not how,
Our brightest minds can only guess,
But never truly know.

I posit other minds than ours,
May share the sleeping brain,
And in some cases nightly hours,
Through dreams cause us real pain.

If we are weak and they are strong,
The battle they might win,
They fight to live, no right or wrong,
In the struggle withi...

Happy Memory (poem in print and read)

Happy Memory

Mom reading to me,
Bedtime stories, fresh and old,
Unhappy endings.

Loud protest from me,
Sometimes with effusive tears,
Mom revising end.

The wolf does not eat,
Grandma or Red Riding Hood,
All’s well with the world.

If only her words,
From heaven could change today,
Real life with such ease.

In Praise of Dandelions

In Praise of Dandelions

We love roses best,
Sweet smell, glorious petals,
We ignore the thorns.

Weeds are flowers too,
Saffron dandelions bloom,
With edible leaves.

Children’s sweet delight,
Summer’s snowflakes their blown seeds,
Gathered gifts for mom.

We protect the rose,
And poison dandelions,
Their beauty unprized.

Nature provides both,
Without judgment as to worth,
It is we who judge.

So with people too,
Flamboyant facades we praise,
Plain, true worth we shun.

Today’s Short Poems: Kiss a Babbling Brook and Galactica

Kiss a Babbling Brook

Kiss a babbling brook,
It will gladly quench your thirst,
With crisp, clear water.

Kiss raging rapids,
You’ll be crushed against the rocks,
And drown, thirst unquenched.

Calm waters sustain,
Turgid ones excite us more,
Danger alway does.

Galactica

Cylons and humans,
Can end their war, choose peace,
Why oh why can’t we.

I highly recommend an article by one of my closest friend...

I highly recommend an article by one of my closest friends and most trusted colleague, Dr. William Raynor, “Toxic Globalization and The Catholic Framework for Economic Life” available by clicking here.

Bill and I previously served together for 12 years as professors at SUNY Delhi. He applies a faith-based perspective to his field (finance) in this and a number of his prior articles. His impressive academic credentials aside, he is one of the finest, most principled human beings I have eve...