Fortune (poem)

Posted by ractrose on 31 Mar 2020 in Art, Poems

    Fortune   I was a hired paw to rid the land of vermin I was not idle as accused Nor so important as to be The plague and not her servant Her vector stirred among the coverlets Ricocheting with her whispers Into willing ears and lodging Under eyelids bringing tears My Hearer, it […]

Cartoon Stories: Whims Brought to Life

Posted by ractrose on 30 Mar 2020 in Cartoons

Cartoon Stories Whims Brought to Life         One category of humor cartoons are especially adapted to; and that, outside of skit comedy, can’t well be communicated to an audience (skits, requiring some minimum length, may also labor the joke), is this sort of idea we all have, little whimsies that take off […]

My Blog Week: March 22 to March 28

Posted by ractrose on 29 Mar 2020 in The Latest

All the Latest from Torsade!                             A Word on the Week   Part and Parcel         It’s not a question of whether the environmental benefits of coronavirus lockdowns count as an upside to the pandemic. We’re far enough along […]

The Smell of the Crowd (poem)

Posted by ractrose on 28 Mar 2020 in Art, Poems

      The Smell of the Crowd   see justice pulled from the frying pan nicely crisped at the edges, greased both sides you may say, done the owner considers the tone a diminution in the smell of the crowd his helpers lose keenness for their work all of them wishing to be at […]

Zealots (poem)

Posted by ractrose on 25 Mar 2020 in Art, Poems

      Zealots   Would it not revive him in a way Guarantee his life with a club key So he makes a bribe to the canal boatman And follows the stream with a binocular on Soon to enter the private door through a tunnel of privet But appetite remains which he admits The […]

Respect (poem)

Posted by ractrose on 24 Mar 2020 in Art, Poems

      Respect   When my child died to me, you had the task of going from my sight, or if returning If seeking your old place, no glance aside No murmuring. For these rebuke, it is not kind to come into my presence with such looks That, saying much, and saying naught, dare […]

Cartoon Stories: Historical Hijinks

Posted by ractrose on 23 Mar 2020 in Cartoons

Cartoon Stories Historical Hijinks         This week, some riffs on topics drawn from history.       Buzz Word. “Hello” is an evolved word, from hola (to fetch), more or less its Germanic origin. Of course, hello is basically an Americanism, but anything (and everything) goes in cartoons. New slang is forever […]

My Blog Week: March 15 to March 21

Posted by ractrose on 22 Mar 2020 in The Latest

All the Latest from Torsade!                             A Word on the Week   Buying Our Way Out         First, a few policy points (because I have faith my readers are on the side of right, and don’t really need telling): […]

All Things Connected Loosely By a Letter (poem)

Posted by ractrose on 21 Mar 2020 in Art, Poems

      All Things Connected Loosely By a Letter     “Good intentions would have produced better results”   You haven’t even that to console you And shown the door A bubble has popped from the brain jar Ferreting in his library for the memory All things connected loosely by a letter or the […]

The Totem-Maker: The Recalcitrant One (part seven)

Posted by ractrose on 20 Mar 2020 in Fiction, Novels

The Totem-Maker Chapter Seven The Recalcitrant One (part seven)           The cave road carried to the foot of a hill, down to the sea-plain of Balbaec proper. I saw travelers now, far away, a small company. If they had dogs, Cuerpha’s scent (my own, for all I knew) would carry a […]