ASSES TO ASHES

I’ve read a lot of science fiction doing my best

to escape, get out of here, leave it all behind,

so, if the aliens landed in my back yard and offered

me a ride, I wouldn’t miss my hat and cane,

all I’d want to know is if I had to come back.

Those worlds out there with multi-eyed monsters

pale in comparison to the unscheduled disassembly

of my world, of my country of my mind, exploding

remnants as bright bolides and naked flames to 

splash offshore where the deep water lies in wait.

I’m too old and have seen too much of this present

idiocrasy trying to slide through the broken glass

of our stupidity while the whole world readies itself

for war to break the ennui by our rapid, unscheduled

disassembly during its fiery demise. 

Reviews

[Betty Hermelee]

Dearest Vol....seems like you've had it with the world (our universe) ....disgusted, disappointed, get me out of here...you would even go with the aliens.... I can relate...even though our political views are polar opposites....I'm with you on this mood of yours...I just hope we don't go to war (civil, that is)...Just rest your mind a bit ....don't get wrapped up in this nonsense...it's not worth it... we know it stinks...and too many of us get hurt...take a deep breath...and smoke a joint!
PS I love your FB posts...
Warmly, B

[Vol]

Betty,
I love you more every time we talk! politics has nothing to do with it. Absolutely none of what is going on now is in any way different from any other generation in history... "Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men? The Shadow Knows" It wasn't so bad whin stupidity and evil were confined to local places... now we spread it like peanut butter on hot toast, and no one is immune. (except a few friendly poets... I love you, friend...
Vol

[Betty Hermelee]

I love reading your work, whether on FB or her at the Cafe....I should have been your student!!!
read moreI love reading your work, whether on FB or her at the Cafe....I should have been your student!!!
Warmly, B

[Vol]

Aw, Betty, What a sweet ting to say... One of the things I learned is it is a shame that humanity lost some of its decency and created hierarchies Weare ALL each other's students,,, or should be. and anytime you want to talk poetry I'd love to. BTW Are you in America?

[Betty Hermelee]

Yes, I'm in Black Mountain, NC!!!
I'd love it if you would buy my book "At Bridge's End" and write a review... These new ones are a sequel that that book!!! It's prose poetry!!!
Warmly, B

[Vol]

Black Mountain! Wow!! Cool... Please remind me... my memory is easily distracted and I have about 3 frenetic days ahead...
Vol

[Betty Hermelee]

So is mine!!! guess we're not much of a help to each other! two airheads!
Warmly, B

[Vol]

Betty!
My family rented a house at the YMCA convention center every Christmas for years! I love your town, I had friends in Nashville who went to a poetry festival there in the autumn... I think the word "leaf" was in the title...?

[Betty Hermelee]

LEAF is an annual music festival in Black Mountain!!! I live 5 minutes from the YMCA!!!

[Vol]

WOW!!! I was working at the time and never made it...

[Chris Shaw]

Stop the world, I want to get off. That’s how I read you Vol. We live in pretty chaotic times, we just don’t know what’s round the corner and we seem to become more divided every day. I think the UK and USA are similar there. We have to build our own happy place. I’m at my happiest, outside in my garden, in the natural environment and I don’t even mind rainy days. Fresh air and nature helps me get away from the crap of politics.

Chris

[Vol]

Chris,
I rant from the peace of solitude.
It is a little funny how I am stuck in this middle of nowhere, a ghost town whose real name is Gouge Eye, and a total of twelve people for neighbors, yet I feel the need to complain about the ills of society at large. The noise, confusion, and conflicts are so sloppy they splash everything with the filth that is the result of too many people crowded into too little space, and lives so empty, the mob so bored, it has to invent new insanities to show they are something more than Hollow Men living in a vast wasteland of their own invention.
Sigh...
Thank you for your lovely encouragement, it is a fine thing to have fellow poets as friends.
Vol

[RomaJ]

I really felt the disillusionment in this poem. The imagery of “unscheduled disassembly,” explosions, and bolides captures both personal and societal chaos in a striking way. I love how you mix sci-fi escapism with sharp commentary on human folly..the contrast makes the urgency and frustration hit even harder. Reading it reminded me why I tend to gravitate toward fantasy or magical stories; real life can already feel intense. Darkly vivid and unforgettable.

[Vol]

Roma,
Ah, a fellow escape artist! The real world has enough sorrow and pain to outweigh the joy, why in the world I want to bombard my psyche with fake pain... If you read Larry McMurtrey the tortures his characters. St the end of Commanche Moon, he has his characters dragging themselves across the desert drinking their own urine. Great storytelling does not require darkness. Danger is okay, even wounds and disease, as long as the outcome is positive... I do my best to avoid some things, like the second season of "Outlander," as soon as I saw where that was headed, I decided I've seen enough of the real thing to want more...
Anyway, Toma, I enjoy your comments.
Vol

[RomaJ]

I agree with you, Vol. There’s just too much real-life tragedy and human suffering in the world news, so I can’t read fantasy works when they feel too close to reality. There’s something about that intensity that makes you instinctively protect your psyche. I love stories that take me to other worlds, but I prefer them to have some hope or beauty, even when danger or conflict is present. It’s interesting how the darkest experiences in fiction can sometimes feel heavier than reality. I haven’t read Comanche Moon, but that sounds intense--definitely not for the faint of heart! Thanks for sharing your perspective; I really appreciate your thoughts on escapism and storytelling.

[Vol]

I should proofread before I hit enter..

[Stella Armour]

There isn't much in the real world to want to come to now Vol. unless of course you are creative and can live in your own little world and ignore the realities.
Not many see the beauty or appreciate the small things , so to me they are are the blessed folk, worlds apart from those who would destroy anything good .
Not sure about aliens tho' i think they are already here !

[Vol]

Stella,
I don't know if there may have been Aliens, or technologically advanced, civilizations capable of sawing granite like we saw wood... but today, I live in a tiny ghost town and have to drive 35 miles to spend money. In my own little world... And I am happy...
Vol

[Stella Armour]

I am very happy too in my own little world Vol.
In my space , i am my own person and that is all that matters to me.

Stella

[Lorry]

If I were you id probably be thinking "s**t! Please don't ask me to take them to your leader!" 😀
But you are right. No matter what multi headed beings they have that breathe fire from their ears, or no matter their idea of beauty, purple skin just looks weird, it wouldn't even come close to the weird s**t we put up with all day every day here.
I doubt there'd be much id miss, other than pale ale and cheesecake... but even then I wouldn't miss them enough to learn how to make them! 😀

[Vol]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KFTm9vmZDI

[Lorry]

This guy is definitely from space, man! Or maybe just a bit spaced!

https://youtu.be/XCbAEkfXSDE?si=Q4pdexc3kk0twFA-