Mother, son

January 27, 2012

This poem was inspired by a heart-rending, inspiring photo someone posted the other day on my Facebook page. My wife and I watched the tsunami as it washed over Japan's northeastern seaboard. Though unspeakably tragic, there is both poignancy and heroism in its aftermath. This is just one of them.  

 

Mother, Son



They found her 

in the ruins of her house,

buried 

under a mountain of debris.


Lying semi-face down,

one leg slightly cocked,

one arm stretched out,

her rescuers


hoped she might still be alive.

Carefully lifting off the rubble,

they touch her cold body.

Lifting her up they find,


wrapped in a blanket,

the still sleeping form

of her infant son. Nearby

is a cell-phone, and


on it, a message. 

“If, when you find us, he is

still alive, please tell him

later that his mother loved him.”


                28 January, 2012


 

What makes a story a short story?

December 13, 2011

What makes a story a short story?




The most effective -- and creepiest -- short story I have ever read was a page and a half long in a paperback “pocket” book that I read back in 1954 or 55. I don’t recall the author’s name, but I do recall the story in every chilling detail. Set in the parking lot of a hospital at the end of her 3 - 11 shift, a nurse was getting into her car when a criminally insane patient she knew came up to her, killed her and ... well, you can imagine how the r...


Continue reading...
 

A brief introduction to "Seiji"

November 8, 2011
Seiji is off to the publisher in January. Watch for it sometime next year. Here is a brief introduction to the character and his story: 
 

At five feet nine and a half inches Seiji is taller than average for men of his generation. To see him in a crowd, you wouldn’t take him for anyone special; his rectangular-shaped face is so ordinary looking that it is easily missed. It is his way of walking and his eyes, which take in everything and express kindness and humor that catch one’s eye. That ...


Continue reading...
 

This morning I finished editing my novel "Seiji"

October 31, 2011
It's been a year and a half since I typed the first word. This morning at around 8AM I finished my first edit. In a week I'll do another go through and make changes, then it's off to the publisher after the first of the year. What a feeling, and what an adventure it has been! 

And then what? Could be the book about Mexico City ("The City Has Many Faces"), but is likely to be something else that I'll have more to say about later. Other than writing book reviews, mapping out the next book and re...

Continue reading...
 

Whatever happened to September?

October 16, 2011
Here we are already halfway through October, and I haven't posted a thing since August 29th. Part of my lapse was being out with a cold for 9 days, then needing to get out of the condo to get some badly needed exercise. Well, now I'm back, within a day or so of  having my "Seiji" novel finished (1st draft), then on to editing it and sending it off to a publisher. When that is done, I think I'll take my first month off from writing in about three years. I should; I have plenty of reading to do...
Continue reading...
 

Writing Seiji

August 29, 2011

“What are you doing, son?” the American soldier with the Japanese face asks.

“Drawing.” Seiji holds up a scrap of cardboard on which he has drawn a picture of his old neighborhood before Tokyo was firebombed and his neighborhood erased.

“Nice work!” the soldier says in Japanese. He squats down to have a closer look. “Is that all you have to draw on?”

“Mmmm, I found it over there.” He aims a charcoal-begrimed finger at a nearby trash heap next to the concrete remains of wha...


Continue reading...
 

Writing book reviews

August 7, 2011
My apologies for being tardy with posting on my blog. The main problem has been my laptop which is on its last legs and too unreliable to use. So I bought an iMac and found myself, as an old Windows user, beginning a new learning experience. It's been a challenge, and a happy one. I now have things figured out sufficiently to get back to my novel, book reviewing an blogging.

Now for the subject of reviewing books, something I've done in tandem with writing poetry and fiction since the early 19...

Continue reading...
 

Grandfather and the deer, a story

July 18, 2011

This is one of my Grandfather stories, but without the Raven. It was inspired by a wildlife incident, recorded on NHK, the Japanese public television network, about a young female deer that had fallen through the ice on a Hokkaido lake. She was being harassed by a flock of hungry crows who were trying to knock her down. She lifted herself up onto the shore and went into the forest. In my story she appears at a farm owned by Grandfather Ueda. The story begins from there. 

Grandfather and the D...


Continue reading...
 

"The Grocery Thief" -- a Grandfather and the Raven story

July 9, 2011

The Grocery Thief

 

 

I don't think there's a human being alive who is familiar with crows and ravens who doesn't think of them as thieves.

They rummage through garbage, steal crops from farmers, steal eggs from the nests of other birds, and kill their young.

Ask most anyone what their opinion is of ravens and crows and they respond reflexively “They're noisy, and they're all thieves and robbers.”

Then, with...


Continue reading...
 

Grandfather and the Mean Dog

July 1, 2011

         

Since it was a beautiful, sunny day, grandfather decided to walk along the Motsukisamu River, which was near the condominium where he and grandmother lived.

As he was leaving, grandmother said: “Now, you be careful of those dogs that run around there, because they bark, and they've been known to bite, especially one of them. That little monster is a vicious little gray devil with very sharp teeth, who has b...


Continue reading...
 
blog comments powered by Disqus
blog comments powered by Disqus

About Me


George Polley I'm an author, fiction writer and poet. My recent publications are "The Old Man and The Monkey" and "Grandfather and the Raven", both published by Night Publishing (UK); a collection of short stories, "Fernandez' Tale and Other Stories", and a poetry collection "Seeing: Collected Poems, 1973-1999", published by Tortoise & Hare, both out of print. I love telling stories, so drop by from time to time for updates. My Book Blog is www.tostadaspealks.blogspot.com. This is where I post reviews of books. Drop by and take a look at what I've been reading and leave your comments.
Make a Free Website with Yola.