Excerpt from Zyoxaday

January, 2008

My distrust of frivolous medication doesn’t arise from some adherence to a complicated conspiracy theory or even the antiquated proposal to refute all medicine and wait for God to cure you (in fact, God cures everyone all the time, who do you think made the doctors who made the medicine).   My decision not to seek the “genie in the bottle” is based solely on the following: Cosmos has rules and these rules are not to be challenged...

Excerpt from Morgokeeshu

May, 2008

Now, I’m not here to give some political dissertation on what caused the insurrection or some silly exegesis about the religious ramifications of the diaspora or the cultural destruction caused by the paradigm shift from a nomadic to agrarian society.  No, I will save all that explainin’ for someone much smarter than me.  Leave that to some scribe or to some teacher or someone like that—someone who is smart enough to write it all down and explain it all away.  No, that person certainly isn’t me—gosh, I can’t explain nothin’.

Now I’m only here to tell you about what I saw and what I done heard.  I’ll throw in the stuff I learned After whenever my storytellin’ needs it and I’m afraid it might need a lot.

Now, the story I’m about to recite isn’t really about me, my little village, my fellow villagers, the Union, or even the evil Submitters.  My story is about one man and that man is Morgokeeshu...

Excerpt from Alizabeth

June, 2009

For reasons I can’t remember, Alizabeth began to tell me about her father and the reason he left her mother and incredibly, I actually paid attention (it was the first time I ever paid attention to her).  Alizabeth’s father left Alizabeth’s mother because he could no longer endure his wife’s cold, withholding and demanding attitudes.  Alone, Alizabeth’s mother moved in with her sister, who was also abandoned by a frustrated husband.  Alizabeth then described her subsequent childhood.  She didn’t have any friends growing up; she didn’t have any fond memories.  It was incredibly sad.

Suddenly I began to understand Alizabeth.  Her mother and her aunt were bitter and hateful—they treated men with contempt and scorn.  Alizabeth realized this behavior was the path to loneliness and acted in opposition.  But since her mother and aunt were such awful role models, Alizabeth had no idea how to moderate her behavior.  Instead of keeping people close, Alizabeth unintentionally smothered them and pushed them away.  The harder she tried the less she was liked.  And since her mother and aunt blamed others for their despair, Alizabeth assumed her loneliness was someone else’s fault.  That was the origin of her rage...