Glen's poem about doing the right thing

My friend Glen Fitch wrote this.


SHEA'S "BUFFALO" THEATER 1955

"No animals were harmed
during the filming of this production"
American Humane Association 1980



Across the screen a cowboy rides the plane.
We watched. He stops. I bounced on grandma's knee.
An arrow flies. His horse rears up in pain
And falls and dies. I cried. She laughed at me.
I wonder did her German cousin chide
The Nazi's raise or praise it out of fear?
And did my father's mother's cousin hide
A slave or own one? Now the choice seems clear.
At five I knew injustice. Didn't you?
(At every age we think we know it all)
Which thoughtless act we do with out a clue
Will bring us shame--our grandchildren appall?
Those innocent but wise may show us how
To be tomorrow's honored hero now.

(1113 words)

So there's this aspect of Afterwar which is sort of like a procedural. I mean we follow along as the brueaucrat does his job, wrangling with other bureaucrats, getting itineraries, interviewing candidates for placement programs . . . and it's my job to make this interesting. It should be tense, kind of suspenseful -- in this section -- the reader should be saying "yes, a disaster's in the offing, but which kind will it be? What's going to happen?"

Pacing is hard.

ANyway, it took me only 3-1/2 hours to get this bit done, and again, I stopped not because I met my quota but because I have to think about the next bit before I write it.

Meanwhile, last night I learned more about Bella and Chain. They live together in a flat which used to be several rooms in a residence hotel -- the landlord would really like to evict everybody and make a complete rework of the building, so he can rent it at high rent as live-work lofts. Meanwhile, the building is an uncomfortable compromise, retaining some of the character of the residence hotel, and, of course, Harry Smith lives in a studio downstairs!They unfortunately seem to have a dog named Monkey. There's actually a large number of people having the same experience as Bella, and Harry Smith is advising all of them not to cooperate. I don't know anymore if Bella is more critical than these others. Chain and Bella haven't been together all that long, and she doesn't know a lot of things about him, but she doesn't think he is a mystery because he's so guileless.

I would like to shake the dog named Monkey, but it seems to come with the package.