Joe Swanson

“To Be Or...” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #95

We have all heard the phrase, “to be or not to be, that is the question." What does that mean? We don’t really have a choice of being or not being. We didn't ask to be born. Is the implication we can be what we choose to be? If so, when did that line begin, and where is it. This however was just the question to ask Rufus Stuntsworth. He lives down by the bus stop somewhere. No one has bothered to find out, because no one cares, except me. And I know enough not to go chasing rainbows.  Some say he has the r...

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“It Takes Two” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #94

“Look, I don’t care what you believe, but you seem to be incapable of expressing a consistent view. Take that T-shirt you are wearing. A picture of a large, what appears to be one of those foam fingers, pointing in whichever direction you turn, like a gun barrel. And that message? You Voted for an Idiot! Now how are people supposed to take that? Everyone thinks the other guy is the idiot. If that is your point have the courage to say so. What you are doing is like leaving a tenuous note about what you ...

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“Two Wrongs” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #94

“If I’m wrong, and you are wrong, who’s right?” “Doesn’t there have to be a right when there is a wrong?” “Yes, of course. Otherwise there would be no winner, no one to lose, no one to gloat.” And that is how the game is played. There has to be a winner for there to be a loser, and vice versa. But it was not always that way. I used to believe that two people could disagree and remain winners. Each having their own set of facts, their own brand of skepticism, and their own sense of irony. It is the irony after al...

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“So What!” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #94

Excerpt from the Watchman’s Review. Translated and reviewed by Adolf Huffenslafenmaker: Circa 1936, Berlin Germany. “Because I said so. That is what I told her.” “Is that what you really said? Do you believe that works?” It is the implied power that troubles me. Not that I am influenced by power, no more than anyone else I believe. I believe that there are those who command attention, allegiance, anything, and everything it takes, to remind us that without their superior abilities, we would be nothing. Then there is...

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“No Recourse” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #94

They say I’ve become obsessed with escaping. But what alternative is there? They say I need to be here. I belong here. I have been sentenced to spend more time than I’ve been allotted by life, I know that. I do not wish to die in this place. It is not the dying that frightens me however, but the fact that in here, you are alone.  So alone, even when surrounded by others, you are alone. They are alone. Everyone in this place is alone, with only themselves to provide a means of escape. Some read to ...

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“Dare We Assume?” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #94

“I dare you to…” Dare? What does the word mean? Challenge, risk, taunt, all explanations of a solicited action, but how does it apply to us? What if we comply with the inference it makes? What if we do not? We are being asked to perform an act we agree with, or one which we cannot condone. Bullying is a good example. It asks us to endorse an action we may not condone, but allow, because we are not the recipient of the force behind the request. We in fact become complicit by doing or saying nothing, and...

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“A Hole In My World” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #93

“You look nervous.”“It’s been a while.”“Don’t worry about it. They are all friends.”“Maybe yours. I don’t know any of them. I don’t know anyone anymore.”“It’ll come back. You ain’t dead you know.”I may not be physically dead, but I’m not sure about emotionally. I’ve been gone a long time. No need to talk about the whys and wherefores just yet; let’s just say I was indisposed. There is something to be said, for being alone. I’ve been told that many people lose their minds when kept from human interactio...

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“You Can't Handle the...” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #92

Hot air, a metaphor used to profess the exuberance of, from the heart declarations. Some appear mysteriously in the clouds: puffy ducks, Abraham Lincoln, or my favorite, Jesus on a carousel. Some are spewed from the pinnacles of power in Capital City. Everyone is entitled to their interpretive imagination when it comes to clouds, but using the commandments to sell snake oil was considered at one time, crossing a line, and that was before we needed a line, to define truth. They promise to govern us and our country with onl...

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“Crispy Cream” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #92

“I think I’m allergic to the sun…” “That’s impossible. No one is allergic to the sun. You may have a reaction to it. Your skin has a tolerance level that when crossed, rebels. Sun burn is not only uncomfortable, but can also lead to serious cancerous maladies. You need to take precautions.” That is not what I meant to say. I didn’t mean to infer that the sun, per say, was the problem. I meant to say sunny dispositions, blind optimists, are the cause of my burning sensation.  He is like that however, ju...

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“Metaphysically Challenged” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #92

“What was that?”The question that echoed around the community, a stark eviction notice from Armageddon.We looked out the window at what appeared to be stars bursting in the air, but after removing the philosophical bent that had arrived with the intrusion of darkness and the fear that accompanies it, I realized it was the electric transformers, our silver moons, exploding in 1912 overture style. The rain pounded on the windows, attempting to breech the glass. Lightning in the bruised sky was reflected in the asphalt ponds that form...

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“Shadow Souls” by Joe Swanson

“Do you believe in life after death, eternity; going on as you, but in a different form?” “What would be the point? I’ve never understood the entire concept of leaving the reality of life to embrace the uncertainty of a hereafter. Perhaps I’m too cynical, or perhaps too realistic to believe that we simply exchange one form of essence for another.” I could see her point. But I could also understand the need to preserve what we know, who we are, even if in a different form. I believe that is why we seek out a place, like th...

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“Light in the Dark” by Joe Swanson

“Do You believe there is a difference between ignorance and stupidity? Better yet, stupidity and idiocy?“If you are stupid, doesn’t that make you by definition an idiot? Or if you are ignorant doesn’t that make you stupid?”These are questions we grapple with daily in this new time of encrypted thesaurus and imagined definitions of words. What we hear and what is meant, are often two different things.Some lyric not long ago asked, “Who let the dogs out.” What that meant I have only a mixed array of explanations for. S...

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“Left Alone” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #91

Have you noticed when you are going someplace, unless you are the one driving, you don’t pay attention to where you are going. Funny thing ain’t it. It is especially difficult to stay engaged on public transportation, because dreaming off is the one way to survive the crowded stew of people. If you are fortunate to get a window seat, it makes dreaming all the easier, but still a challenge. Amongst those who believe that sneezing is an appropriate civic expression of sensitivity because they turn their head, and those who think all ...

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“Eternal Check-Out” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #91

“If I have to ask you again, I’m going to insist you leave.” “But he appears to be choking.” “Appearances aren’t always what they seem. You see that woman over there. The one with the Australian looking cowboy hat and that, what ever kind of feather its supposed to be sticking out of the band. She pretends to be blind. I know she can see, cause why else would you come to a library. I suspect she’s stealing books and then resells them at these corner book sale places. I haven’t been able to prove it, but I know w...

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“Night Life” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #91

“Anything? Have you noticed that this age of viruses and communal distancing is making our lives considerably more difficult. They used to leave, if not entire meals, crumbs at least. But now, nothing. I don’t see how we can continue to stay here if things don’t change.” “You may be right, but need I remind you; we are just a link in the chain of Scotts that have inhabited this building for the past 100 years. If you remember correctly, it was here almost sixty generations ago that Billibond Jeffries learned to read....

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