Showing posts with label tragedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tragedy. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

OctPoWriMo 2018: Day 16: Bonded Eternally

Serab as a teenager

His twin brother Joub, slain at age 13 by Qweh's soldiers

Dearest, beloved brother
We were born in hell
Dearest, beloved brother
Never in peace to dwell
Scapegoated, seen as lesser
We were born in hell
Tortured by our oppressors
Nonetheless, we had one treasure
Scapegoated, seen as lesser
We had a blessing without measure
The bond that was between us
Nonetheless, we had one treasure
We had one another's trust
You sacrificed yourself for me 
The bond that was between us
From this grief I'll never be free
Dearest, beloved brother
Until your face I may once again see
Dearest, beloved brother

Serab
In memory of his brother, Joub
On the occasion of their sixteenth birthday


Notes:
Elf brother images purchased from 123rf.com
Creator information appears on the lower right corner of the angel and demon brother images.
Nerdy trivia, mostly for the benefit of the members of Team Netherworld.
Serab is a major character in Team Netherworld's long-running WIP, Fetch. He is the previous incarnation of the story's main male protagonist, Gerry Clifford.
In his most recent lifetime, Joub reincarnated as Gerry's younger brother, Paul. 
The brothers are platonic soul mates, who were originally the sixth and seventh sons of Lucifer. 

 Malak, the sixth son of Lucifer, later incarnated as Serab the Thief on Zecor (Zetar 6) and most recently as Gerry Clifford on Earth
Malak is of the Celestial order of Greater Spirits

Arion, the Seventh Son of Lucifer
Created by Lucifer from Malak's heartfelt wish for a best friend
Later incarnated as Joub, the twin brother of Serab, on the troubled planet Zecor 
Most recently incarnated as Paul Clifford
Arion is of the Infernal order of Greater Spirits







Saturday, October 6, 2018

OctPoWriMo 2018: Day 6: Heart Full of Doubt

Ruby Eye
Creator Unknown

Content Warning:
Dark and depressive subject matter. 
If you would prefer to avoid such, click the back arrow to return from whence you came.

Was any of it worth the fight?
Not a thing was put to right
No battle has been won
Forever on the run
Love clearly does not conquer all

There is no victory in sight
Blind struggles in eternal night
We will never see the sun
Love clearly doesn't conquer all

Together only in our plight
Without a spark of hope or light
When all is said and done
Nothing has been won
Love clearly doesn't conquer all

Princess Ondina for Serab the Thief
following his death at the hands of her megalomaniac brother, King Qweh
From the original WIP, Fetch
Created by The Real Cie, Gem Moondreamer, and Rose LeMort
Lovingly crafted by Team Netherworld since late 2014


Saturday, September 15, 2018

NaHaiWriMo 2018 #6: House of Cards


Notes:
Text by The Real Cie. House of Cards and its characters are the creation and property of Netflix.
I was inspired to create this Haiga while binge-watching House of Cards instead of sleeping. I noticed the parallel between the over-the-top drama involving House of Cards' main character, Frank Underwood, and Kevin Spacey, the actor who plays the part. Frank Underwood describes his father as having been a violent alcoholic. Spacey has stated that his father was both physically and sexually abusive as well as a racist.
While I feel that the inner turmoil from his childhood abuse combined with shame over his sexual orientation may have prompted Kevin Spacey to behave in inappropriate and ill-advised ways with young men, and while I feel compassion for his struggles, I do not think that his behavior is acceptable. It is a shame that it resulted in his being terminated from House of Cards because he is a superlative actor. Of course, it is also unfortunate that the young men subjected to his behavior suffered psychological repercussions.
This piece falls into the categories of fan art, art imitating life, human failings, tragedy, and irony.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Tears For My Best Friend

I was trying to find you a home
My home became yours
I loved you before I even met you
Little wild one
 
 
I had to help you learn not to be afraid
You had been in the kennel for most of your life
When I brought you home you hid under the printer table
You only came out to leap on my hand and arm when I slept
I had to help you learn to play with soft paws instead of claws out
 
 
You didn't understand bathtubs
You jumped in with me--twice
I laughed at you, I admit
You gave me a dirty look and went to clean yourself
 
 
You trusted me more than anyone in the world
And I trusted you too
I let myself love you very much
You were my best friend
 
 
You and I were supposed to be together for many years
But you died yesterday, on your sixth birthday
Your kidneys had completely shut down
I made the decision to release you
Rather than to let you suffer for a few more days
 
 
I will always miss you, Lafayette
My best friend
You were sick for much longer than I realized
You were stronger than I knew
Because you wanted to make me happy
 
 
Just before the end
You raised your head to give a soft goodbye meow
I don't want to live without you
I told you that you were always my best friend
And that I'd see you again
 
Please wait for me
 
~Cie~
 
Lafayette
July 17 2009 - July 17 2015
 
 
 

Sunday, April 26, 2015

NaPoWriMo 2015: Day 26: Not Easy To Forget

Photoshop by The Real Cie

Not Easy To Forget

I've caused a lot more trouble than I ever intended to
There has been too much grief
Over a simple man whose cognition has gone south

Weeping and mourning do no good
Stop
Go on with your life

I tried not to cause trouble
Tried to pretend everything was all right
I'm like a dying sun setting on a doomed world
I'm sorry for those I let down

I've forgotten everything and everyone
I've forgotten myself

In the scheme of things, I don't matter very much
I don't want to cause any trouble
But at the same time
Everyone wants to matter just a little

Perhaps keep a little bit of me somewhere in your mind

With love From Sally

Notes:
The subject of the poem is a person whose cognition is being eroded by a disease which is literally destroying the structure of his brain.
He was a modest person who didn't like a lot of fuss made over him.
He tried to make out like things were all right during the period of time when he was still functional. He truly didn't want to concern others with his problems.
He is beautiful and brave, and even if he thought that such a humble creature is easily forgotten, he will be remembered as long as the members of Team Netherworld are alive, and, I believe, longer still than that by far.
Bless you, sweet angel.


Prompt:
And now, for our prompt (optional, as always). Our last two prompts have been squarely in the silly zone – this one should give some scope to both the serious-minded and the silly among you. Today, I challenge you to write a persona poem – a poem in the voice of someone else. Your persona could be a mythological or fictional character, a historical figure, or even an inanimate object. Need some examples? Check out this persona-poem-themed issue of Poemeleon from a few years back.


Tuesday, April 21, 2015

NaPoWriMo 2015: Day 21: Erasure

Erasure by The Real Cie

Erasure

Move Like Jagger
hand in my heart
Rip it out
spill blood 

lost my head

wanted to put you in my pocket 
wanted to hug you

So I could see the light turn on in your eyes once again

you always looked a little sad
 I could soothe your sorrow
Cuddle away your blues 

Fucking Midnight Confession style thoughts
About a married man

I want to do bad things with you

What the fuck
Is wrong with the Universe?

you don't create something so beautiful
Just to utterly destroy it

my thoughts are
nowhere near close to as wrong
As what's been done to you

Life is pain
Hope is folly
Confession is good for the tabloids

Some things try to be strong
Although they're actually fragile
want to put you in my pocket
And keep you safe 

For Cie
With love from Aurora

Notes:
The term "erasure" reminded me of the picture that Cie created. I thought that I would take something that Cie wrote and try to condense it down to the bare bones.
The original poem, which I absolutely love, can be found here.

The Prompt:
Our prompt for today (optional, as always) is an old favorite – the erasure! This involves taking a pre-existing text and blacking out or erasing words, while leaving the placement of the remaining words intact. I’ve been working on an erasure project that involves an old guide to rose-growing. Here’s an example of an original page, side-by-side with my “erased” page:
One easy way to get started is just to photocopy a page from a book or magazine, and black out words. Or you can copy a text into Microsoft Word, and turn the words you don’t want white. Erasures can feel almost like a game – carving new poems out of old texts like carving statues from blocks of marble — and so they take some of the anxiety out of writing. They can also lead to surprising new ideas, as the words of the original text are given new contexts.
Happy writing!



Friday, April 10, 2015

NaPoWriMo Day 9 + 10: An Abecedarian Calligram: Shadow of a Man

Shadow of a Man Version 6
Photoshop Manipulation by The Real Cie

 Shadow of a Man

             Amazing
                 Beautiful being
              Creature of love 
             Diamond in the rough
           Envisioning creating a better world
             Fanciness was foolishness in your eyes
           Gifted, talented, mind razor sharp
              Heart fragile as blown glass
               Ingenuous although leery
             Just a simple person
             Kind and gentle
             Little lost boy
             Mystery to himself
             Never really at peace
               Only the music made sense
             Pain drove him to erroneous choices
             Quietly he slipped away to recover
                Real and true and better than he knew
                   Such a gallant soul deserves far better
                  Than to die feeling abandoned and alone
                   Unquiet ghost haunting empty house
                  Valiant nonetheless unto the end
                  Wishes don't come true
                    Xanatos waits until
                    Your time reaches
                 Zero at last

                                       ~Cie~                     
                   


Notes:
The shape is an hourglass or an urn or something. I started out with idea of making a butterfly but gave up in frustration. Someone less dyslexic than I am might succeed.

To my wonderful writing sister Thalia for coming to my defense recently:



Tuesday, April 7, 2015

NaPoWriMo Day 7: In The End It's Only Paper


He made a fortune
A hundred million dollars
It couldn't save him

~Aurora~



I chose to write a Haiku for today's poetry topic (money) because sometimes too many words just clutter things up. 

Sunday, December 21, 2014

More and Less than Human

 
 
More and Less than Human
 
My eyes have seen you
Perform before ten times a thousand and more
Being onstage got you high
But it also made you panic
 
To perform was always your choice
It was the way that you expressed yourself
Because sometimes it was hard for you to talk
Especially when you needed help
 
You were always willing to help others
But when it came to your own needs, you hit a snag
Perhaps you thought you could sweat it out if you worked hard enough
You thought you could burn your troubles out of your body
 
People like you are more and less than human
In the eyes of your audience
The crowd sees you as both invincible and fatally flawed
You can't win in the arena of public opinion
 
My eyes have seen you
As more lofty than the archangels
As broken as a shattered China cup
As wonderfully and exquisitely anomalous
 
I wish my eyes did not have to see you lose yourself
 
~Cie~
 
 
 
 
http://sundaywhirl.wordpress.com/2014/12/21/wordle-192/
 

Thursday, December 4, 2014

A Fading Dream

Cie says: Thank you, Dolly. I love it!
Dolly wants to clarify: I'm the finder, not the artist. I can barely draw stick figures!


A Fading Dream

It seems so cruel
That the fates make you a toy
Collecting dust in some forgotten room
Your life is already lost
Your thoughts encased in frost
Your song silenced

I wish that the fairies would open the door to the realms beyond
Allowing you to fly free
Such a soft, fragile soul
Would fade quickly from this unkind place
Would a smile grace your pretty face
As you vanished in a puff of mist

Dolly
and
Cie





Tuesday, December 2, 2014

One Soul As Two Minds


Born in two bodies
Yet with a union so close
They were of one mind

A love of this kind
Survives death of the body
Or loss of reason

~Koni~


Koni's Notes:

Angus Young (L) was the first person to notice that something was amiss with Malcolm Young (R) when the bright and hyper-organized Malcolm began to become disorganized and forgetful. Angus covered for his brother, at first helping him remember things that needed to be done, and eventually covering for Malcolm during performances when he would miss chords from songs that he'd written himself.
Before Malcolm lost the ability to remember what he had done during his life or even the ability to recognize the people he was closest to including the brother who seemed to be the other half of his own soul, he told Angus to keep making music. Not long afterwards, it became necessary to place him in a long term care facility. 
It is my belief that a bond like this one survives even death, be it of mind or body. Not everyone is fortunate enough to know the reflection of their soul. Such a reflection is not always romantic; as in this case, the reflection is platonic and/or filial. In any case, such a union is to be treasured. It can never be destroyed.

~Koni~

Cross-Posted to:

Dream About Me, Sweet Brother
(Note: Blog overall is NSFW; certain posts contain explicit gay erotica)

Poetery of the Netherworld

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Every Song Must End


“Every song must end."

Where once there was an energetic soul
Creating melodic legerdemain
To the accompaniment of a raw beat pulsing like a wild heart
The untamed desires of the audience reflected in the sound created

Now there is only a void
An empty hollow, where a short, shy man once stood strong
A gritty Bodhisattva in a tank top and jeans
Who had no patience with parasites
Who inspired broken souls to keep on fighting

The dusk has fallen over his mind
But perhaps even in dying in such a heart-breaking fashion
His spirit reminds us to keep compassion in our souls

Every song must end
His song deserves the grandest of finales

Love,
Dolly

This image is not our creation. 
Props and all to whoever made it!

Prompt used:

This poem is dedicated to Malcolm (duh)
Also to our Real Cie, who loves him so much
So sorry your heart is breaking, Darlin'
If I could I'd heal up his mind so you'd both be happy

A Bodhisattva is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated Bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.



Photoshop manip by Cie
Original Eye in the Sky image:
Copyright: zadvinskiy / 123RF Stock Photo

Trapped

 Not my art. I wish! Afraid I don't know the source.

Trapped 

I feel like I’m trapped

In one of those old movies where the earth does open

I thought we could find some place to anchor

But we are still adrift, floating

 

O tired song of what we thought

Repeating endlessly within our heads

Mocking the reality of what we now know is truth

Sometimes it takes too damn long to become dead

 

I used to think if I could go back in time

I’d beat my younger self just like a thug

But these days I’ve so much sympathy in me

I’d give that lost and hurting soul a hug

 

We cannot foresee what is to come

The moments of happiness are few and far between

The moments of tragedy weigh us down like stones

I would not wish on anyone the things I’ve felt and seen

 

People do not long for youth to be young and pretty

We long for youth so we don’t have to know

About all the losses we will face in life

The myriad of sorrows stoop our shoulders when we’re old
 
~Cie~


Prompts used:

  1. those old movies where the earth does open – Fault by Ron Koertge
  2. but we are still adrift, floating – Song Book by Naomi Shihab Nye
  3. O tired song of what we thought -The Snow Leopard Mother by Jennifer K. Sweeney

 
https://jeremysdailychallenge.wordpress.com/2014/11/19/challenge-wednesday-19-november/


Thursday, November 13, 2014

Heart Fragile Like A Flower

Image Source (and poem inspiration): Cee's Photography
This is a blog worth watching

Heart Fragile Like a Flower

Some things are so beautiful
That even if you realize
They have the potential to hurt you
Not through any conscious volition
But just by being what they are
You can't help but love them anyway

Your heart is fragile like a flower
You loved the beautiful iris
Even though you once believed it could make you sick
You loved someone who gave you the gift
Of saving your life when you were young and troubled
Someone who seemed strong
But broke your heart by being made of glass instead of stone

You are fragile like a flower
And that makes you beautiful
And better than the many harsh things in this world
Even though it also makes you terribly vulnerable
Even though it makes it all too easy
For you to be crushed

I love you Cie

~Wanda~

Wanda's notes:
Cie told me that when she was a little girl, perhaps three years old, she contracted the flu. When her mother said that Cie had caught a virus, she thought of the irises growing in the yard by the house where they lived. Cie believed that smelling the irises made her sick, but she didn't blame them. She still loved them. She believed that just because their pollen made her sick didn't make them bad. It wasn't their fault.
Cie's bipolar disorder seems to have onset when she reached puberty, although she may have had it all her life. She was bullied very badly in school. As a troubled teenager, she started self-harming. On the radio, she discovered music by the band AC/DC. The music made her happy and the fact that the band members seemed to be somewhat outcast types themselves made her feel that she wasn't alone.
Cie developed quite a crush on AC/DC's frontman, Bon Scott. But she always felt that the band's founder, Malcolm Young, was a kind, comforting personality. She felt that he would welcome rather than reject an outcast like her. He had a friendly face and an accepting attitude. She liked those things about him.
When Bon died, Cie was crestfallen. But she continued following the band. The more she learned about Malcolm, the more she liked him. She found it admirable that he took it on himself to call Bon's mother after Bon's death so she would hear the truth from a friend rather than from the news. Malcolm always said this was the hardest thing he ever had to do, but he did it anyway. This is only one example of the kind of fundamentally decent person that he always was.
Cie related to Malcolm's struggles with depression and alcohol addiction. She admired the fact that in spite of these issues, he always kept his obligations to his family and his band mates. She also admired him for being monogamous in an industry that encourages Bacchanalian attitudes. 
Cie has said over the years that she wished she could have found her Malcolm Young; meaning someone who would be decent and faithful, warm, intelligent and interesting, sensitive, gentle, and with a bit of a wacky sense of humor. 
It also didn't hurt that he had killer eyes, a cute face, and a shy, humble demeanor, although he could be something of a pit bull when challenged or if he saw a threat to someone he cared about. Guys like him certainly are few and far between, and any woman lucky enough to have one should hold on tooth and nail.
When Cie found out that Malcolm was not only terminally ill but the essence of his personality had been wiped out, it devastated her. She found herself wishing that she could (her words) "Put him in my pocket and keep him safe." 
Perhaps stemming from her desire to heal and protect Malcolm, Cie found herself feeling a physical desire for him as well. I'm not a psychologist, but this makes sense to me. She was horrified at herself, because she has always been the type to respect a person's marriage and would never consider being a home-wrecker. She expressed her (very raw) feelings in this wonderful poem. It's a painful read; you can hear her heart break. But it's also excruciatingly beautiful.
Dear Cie, I am truly saddened to hear of this horrible thing happening to such a good person. Please don't beat yourself up any more. You are feeling pain because you feel love. That's the hell of it. However, there isn't enough love in this world. We must take it where we can find it. You found it for this person, and even though he doesn't know you in the flesh, I think that he can feel your love on some level and it may bring him comfort, which he desperately needs. I truly believe that.
I hope that maybe my humble poem will show you that someone is on your side; you are not alone, my friend, although I know you feel that you are.

Love,
Wanda

He wasn't very big, and he was genuinely a nice guy. 
But fucking with him was a bad idea, because he would bite back if attacked.
As they say, it isn't the size of the dog, it's the size of the fight in the dog.
In the end, it was no human assailant or even the demon from the bottle that took him out.
It was something that looks like this:


This is fucking scary, because nobody understands how to stop it from going awry and destroying a mind and a life.
This disease (Lewy body dementia) is particularly scary because there doesn't tend to be any way to predict it. Malcolm Young's family seems to have a history of cancer and heart disease, not dementia. It tends to strike younger people (average 50's and 60's) than Alzheimer's. Malcolm is 61.

Cie says that this diagnosis was a bigger punch in the gut than hearing that Malcolm had cancer or even that he'd committed suicide, because it destroys the personality, not just the body.

So, to recap for the rude person asking if this is now the Malcolm Young blog, maybe it is, at least temporarily. What's it to ya? He deserves at least that much respect, and our teammate deserves to express herself, including bleeding out her soul if that's what she needs to do.

Wanda
for
Team Netherworld