In Silent Passage - Text and Visual Art by Chris DeRobertis (Dero): October 2016

// Monday, October 31, 2016

Today's Tendril...

Hypocrisy is a two-faced head that speaks out of both sides of all its mouths.

// Sunday, October 30, 2016

Three Two-sentence Horror Stories (for Halloween) + 1 Bonus Story

My greatest struggle in life had always been fitting in with the world around me, because it was easier to be me and alone, than to be part of a group and feign interest and acceptability.

Funny the type of stuff that pops into your head when you've got eternity in a coffin.

Emily never cared for the sensationalized and exaggerated quality of so-called urban legends, especially those that were more gore and terror than clever and unsettling.

She quickly changed her mind when her car broke down on a dusty country road, on Halloween night, and a scarecrow with red eyes and a battle-axe leapt out of the cornfield on the other side of the road.

The over-sized jack-o-lantern looked particularly menacing in the middle of my living room, with its eerie green glow pulsing through missing chunks of its pumpkin flesh, and a bright red goo dripping from its pointy-toothed maw.

Too bad it was Easter and I live alone.

Bonus Story

Every night for several weeks our passion for each other was fulfilled in complete and undifferentiated darkness, and she would not allow me see her, no matter how much I pleaded.

But she finally gave into my request and revealed herself to me by soft candlelight.

That's when I realized that the ghost I had been calling Josephina was actually a Joseph.

Copyright 2016 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

These text compositions are works of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, contexts, scenes, scenarios, symbols, glyphs, iconography, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

Today's Tendril...

Balance favors the clear-headed,

The data-driven,

The mindful.

// Saturday, October 29, 2016

Today's Tendril...

We might try to rule with Maslow's Hammer, but we're still subject to Murphy's Law.

All of us.

// Friday, October 28, 2016

The Last Grain

    Several weeks ago, a grand field near my home held row upon row of tall, thick, healthy green corn stalks. All of the stalks stood proudly, their uniform height topped with marvelous tassels that bobbed and nodded whenever a strong breeze passed through them. And when the sunlight caught the ears just right, you'd swear they were the big, bold, and husky cousins of the pussy willow. Oh, such a sight to behold.

    But then the harvest came and went, like a thief in the night, and the cornfield became a ghost of itself. Even worse, though, the field became home to hundreds, if not thousands, of honking and foraging geese.

    Alas, even their presence is, at best, temporary. For once they've had their fill of the harvest's leftovers—unprocessed parts, mashed bits, waste grain and the like—they'll depart, en masse, for warmer climes and robust acreage. (I'm all but convinced that the resident field mice despise the transient fowls and are given to calling them "the amazing pooping machines" and "the fair-weather feathers.")

    Still, once the geese leave, all of us (mice included) will wait impatiently for the first snowfall, so that the vast emptiness that occupies both land and spirit will be concealed by a welcomed blanket of pure, undifferentiated white.

    The End

Copyright 2016 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, contexts, scenes, scenarios, symbols, glyphs, iconography, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

A Saying of Kairis

This visual-and-text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, contexts, scenes, scenarios, symbols, glyphs, iconography, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

KAIRIS is a ™ trademark of Christopher V. DeRobertis

Today's Tendril...

The only things that change direction as often as the wind are social sentiment and politicians.

// Thursday, October 27, 2016

Today's Tendril...

If darkness is a harbor, then don't drop anchor there.

// Wednesday, October 26, 2016

One Candle from the Cabin in the Woods

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Pod 3

Reinvent the wheel all you want.

Think outside the box all you want.

Build a better mousetrap until you're blue in the face.

Construct the most marvelous Rube Goldberg machine the world has ever seen.

But until you truly care, are truly passionate about creating something, and are willing to put your heart and soul on display, then you might as well be trying to lasso a tornado, using week old spaghetti, while blindfolded, and wearing clown shoes.

PID: 1477454400

// Monday, October 24, 2016

Today's Tendril...

At the worst of times pain is a cell,

A hole,

A puppeteer.

At the best of times pain is an opportunity,

A divining rod to strength,

A focusing lens,

A channel to clarity.

// Sunday, October 23, 2016

Today's Tendril...

Visionary needn't mean the absence of reactionary. In fact, the former may emerge out of necessity from the latter.

The Mystic and the Machine

// Saturday, October 22, 2016

Today's Tendril...

Headlights, flashlights, and searchlights are irrelevant when the threat is invisible.

// Friday, October 21, 2016

Orivod

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Seasonal Sidebar

Angry stakeholders don't bode well for the success of your mission, endeavor, or vision.

Especially if you're a vampire.

Today's Tendril...

Red herrings are sometimes masked in shades of grey.

// Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Said the...

   "It is better to hold the heart of a dragon in your hand, than in your chest," said the angel on the mortal's right shoulder.

   "But it's far more fun to ride upon the dragon's back, than to be pierced by its talons," said the demon on the mortal's left shoulder.

   "Actually, it's far better to avoid the dragon altogether, than to lose the use of one hand, or to risk falling to your demise," said the mortal, who promptly walked away from the moment.

Copyright 2016 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

If you don't see God when you look through a microscope, or when you look through a telescope, then you might not be seeing things with an open mind.

// Monday, October 17, 2016

Today's Tendril...

True vision requires both i's (to be wide open).

// Saturday, October 15, 2016

Alive, Awake, and Aware 5: Hybrid Consciousness

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Real for a Moment 4: Star System Black Light

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Today's Tendril...

Magic lives and dies in the hearts and minds of dreamers, thinkers, and doers.

// Thursday, October 13, 2016

Sky Slant

When skies are cloudy,
   And thoughts are grey,
Some tend toward gloomy,
   Others sink into dismay.

No matter the slant,
   No matter the cause,
The weather above,
   Makes some people pause.

Today's Tendril...

Within conflict is "i" — how appropriate.

// Monday, October 10, 2016

Today's Tendril...

If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's probably a duck.

Still... "trust" but verify.

// Sunday, October 09, 2016

Recounted and Replayed

Autumn grey.
   Winter blue.
Spring ahead.
   Summer stew.

Thunder rumbles.
   Daylight dies.
Lunar madness.
   Midnight cries.

Echo canyon.
   Raven’s way.
Circled crops.
   A prayer to say.

Oh to recall,
   Mental bricks,
   In life's wall.

// Saturday, October 08, 2016

Today's Tendril...

A view from elsewhere and elsewhen...

You know a relationship has run its course when you go from being the anchor of someone's life, to being the anger of someone's life.