Merkin

Feel powerful and pissed off.

Very powerful. A sparse, tightly guarded admission of tense uncertainty, yet every word points unerringly toward the mystery of love, the bewilderment of inexperience, the terror at revealing oneself. James Merkin

Oh, Henry! Brilliant twists. James

And mine: With tears streaming down my cheeks, I stared into the mirror, my normally dancing, sparkling blue eyes dark with pain and sorrow as I examined my lithe, 5' 9" body with its treasure trail leading to my 5" (soft, 6.84" when fully extended) cock as I wondered why, why can't he see that I love him passionately and forever in spite of the fact that we met only yesterday when he passed me in the hall at school and our eyes (mine blue, dancing and sparkling; his brown, bloodshot and shifty) exchanged that momentary glance, all that it took for his to communicate a lifetime of passionate interest in sport, girls, and bullying those smaller and weaker, a point he made clear by slamming his massive body into my slender frame, thus pinning me into my locker, as he spat the word "Fag!" into my desolate yearning face. James Merkin

Mirror Image Who is this stranger in my bathroom mirror? The ghost of an ancestor? If only he were clearer? Where are my specs? Damned things are never there, Wait - they rest above, perched in my hair. What hair? Don?t mock my shining pate, Premature loss has always been my fate, And hair?s not the only thing to disappear: I haven?t had my manhood up at all this year, Although I?d never know, below this gut, When conditions might be ready for a rut. Thank goodness, I?ve been spared the chance For medical emergency, should I attempt that dance! Yet I surely grudge the possibility I'd meet A cute Responder, who?d sweep me off my feet. Come to think, I?d no doubt be splayed already: Even at the best of times I?m none too steady, And such an opportunity to spread my bony knees Would be lost, in circumstances sure to seize This worn heart, which thank goodness still provides That essential spark, and keeps my hopes alive. James Merkin

Brilliantly stated, Ele. We are all bricks, perhaps yet to discover our potential as brickbats -- or perhaps already used up to build the walls that protect the establishment. James Merkin

Enormously moving. Merkin

That's pretty damn scary, don't you think? What if it were surgeons? Would we stand for it? The intake process for wannabe teachers needs a good hard rethink. In fact, in most places there is no intake processing--if you want to be a teacher, all you have to do is sign up for some courses leading to "certification." How bizarre is that? Can anyone identify the quality controls within most certification programs? They are practically nonexistant. We place our kids in the hands of complete unknowns. James Merkin

Not biscuits. *shudder* A lovely tease, Des. James Merkin

The priesthood (and the protestant preacherhood) seems by its very nature to attract two types of individuals: The very good person, because it is based on an ideal of serving mankind; and the scoundrel, because it is based on a reality of myth and deception. There can be no greater evil than abusing the innocent young. James Merkin

The characterization is a little fishy. James Merkin

Google tells us all we need to know about googols: read it here. BTW, Cole, welcome to the six syllable haiku club. Now I don't feel so bad. James Merkin

Perhaps in stories about the British Parliament or the U.S. Congress.

I believe art exists when a maker endows a creation with an aesthetic quality, recognizable by others, that surpasses the everyday. Any human activity can be achieved with this quality. Pitching a perfect game is an artform, and the pitcher who accomplishes that feat is an artist. James Merkin

Made for each other, thanks to modern "chemistry." Good one, Camy.

They say that any publicity is good publicity as long as they spell your name correctly. I'm thinking Fred Phelps must be appreciative of this amount of official and media attention to him and his "cause." James Merkin

I celebrate that Carol Ann Duffy, woman, mother, and openly gay, has been selected as Britain's next Poet Laureate. Read it here. It doesn't hurt that she is Scots, also. So many barriers broken here. James Merkin

This is all the better for not knowing what exactly the suggestion was, for our imaginations lend whatever degree of naughtiness and risk we are willing to subject these two charming boys. Clearly they are children, perhaps barely adolescent, for few clues are given except that one of them knows that something is possible that the other has not yet imagined. The force of this lovely story is its writer's ability to hook us with the sheer delight of young experimentation. James Merkin

How Homosexuals Can Save Civilization Perpetual rut: oh what a mixed blessing; Once it begins, it grows without lessening! It somehow controls us beyond understanding, Thanks to its urging and constant demanding. Originally intended to prolong our fine race, It seems to have increased since we've fallen from grace. Now we can barely remember our aim To control our own destiny, once sex is our game. When inserting Part A to another's Part B Our pleasure takes over without referee, And instead of tending to selective breeding We become only intent on continual seeding. Thus it behooves us, in saving the race To identify B Parts that breed no disgrace. Boy to boy bonding, girl to girl love Will insure our redemption by heaven above. And guarantee food enough, plus adequate space So our descendants (more properly paced) Will have room to grow and to find their true pair: Though this time around breeders get the ten percent share. -James Merkin

It is interesting to note that invasive forces from the Americas were making life difficult for the Aussies even before WWII. Texans can make belts and boots from their snakeskins. What use have Australians come up with for toad hide? James Merkin

I love the way Cole sets up his characters. With just a few sentences for each we gain insight and motivation. Even the coach has become immediately three-dimensional. James Merkin

The genius of a story like Find Your Own Way is what it does not give us. The first paragraph is a compelling example of that gift. A novel version would have spelled out these details and given us the backstory. This short story permits us -- if we are willing to become committed as readers -- to write this part of the story on our own. We each may write it in our own individually unique way, but the result is we become drawn in and become more than readers, we participate. By drawing on our own experiences, insights, or knowhow we imagine that town, people it, furnish that sparse room, and flesh those personalities, according to the clues and cues the author offers us. We commit to the success of the story in a way we do not need to do when we sink into a novel. That gives a story like this a resonance in our own hearts that many a novel fails to achieve.

Although I deny there is a 'wrong' side of fifty, in this poem you have captured the mood wonderfully, Des. James Merkin

There seems to be something of an implication running through this discussion that the writing of a novel is somehow a more "heroic" or noteworthy enterprise than the authoring of short stories. For example, the "you can do it if you only try harder" kind of statement. Was this what was intended? I find that view hard to understand --or accept. James Merkin

I've found some of the books by Thich Nhat Hanh to be among the most helpful. They are anecdotal, oriented toward the Western reader, and without the Western writer's usual insistence upon rational explanation and footnotes. Hanh is a Vietnamese monk living in France who does not seem to promote any one of the specialist Buddhist doctrines or sects. His simple, succinct description of breath meditation in Touching Peace(Parallax Press, 1992 and many editions) worked for me. James Merkin