Posts filed under ‘Walt Trizna’
9/11 POEM
My consistent readers,
I first published this poem on my blog last year on 9/11.
I wanted to revisit the memory burned in my mind that fateful day ten years ago.
JUMPERS
They were like birds flying,
Leaping from flaming windows,
No wings to purchase air,
No hope of flying home.
They were like birds flying,
Tumbling in twos, alone,
Flashing by in a smoke-filled sky
While crowds watched in horror.
They were like birds flying
Flights, imprinting the nation’s memory.
They were like birds flying,
Carrying us into a world of fear.
I SURVIVED HURRICANE IRENE
My saturated readers,
Once again we weathered (every pun intended) another natural disaster.
I was to accompany my wife, Joni, to visit our daughter, Lynn, on the farm outside of Pittsburgh where she is completing an internship and next year will be field manager.
I elected to remain home and await the visitor predicted to arrive Saturday, Irene.
I used every D battery in the house to power flashlights and a radio.
Our sunroom had enough candles around to hold a séance. Luckily, I did not need to light them, for being a writer of horror the ‘other side’ may have decided to pay me a visit.
The rain began Saturday afternoon and continued into the next day resulting in almost six inches. Sunday the wind began to howl. We did not lose power, and due to emergency gutter cleaning before Joni left, had no unwanted water in the house.
Our pup, Millie, was a wreck during the storm. I was glad I stayed behind to keep her company.
There are still areas close by that are flooded and lacking power; we survived unscathed.
I have been checking my supply of insect killer for I am sure the locusts are next to arrive.
Walt
I SURVIVED THE EAST COAST EARTHQUAKE
My shaky readers,
I’m sure you populate most of the world, and beyond, but locally I thought I’d inform you that here in West Chester, PA we just felt an earthquake.
Having lived in California for seven years, I knew what they felt like, but did not expect one here. In fact, I was waiting to hear the sound of sirens responding to some explosion.
But those who know me also know I’m a weather junkie. I happened to be tuned to the weather channel when our house began to shake. Also, I was looking out our front window at the birdfeeder which was swaying to and fro. The shaking began about 1:54PM and lasted about ten seconds.
What I found extremely interesting is that soon after the shaking ceased I received a phone call from a friend that had read my novel, New Moon Rising, which involves a great deal of geological activity. Could there be a sequel?
I also want to report that my study experienced earthquake damage, well, sort of. My study is stacked with books. A flea fart could bring down a pile of literature. I found a stack of books half tipped over. I’ll wait until my wife comes home and then restack the ten or so books. I will not contact our insurance company.
Waiting for aftershocks,
Walt
UPDATE
Well, I’ve taken a social step forward, I guess.
I’m now on facebook, and for the time being, without a face.
Walt
UPDATE – MELANGE BOOKS
This is an interview I did with Melange Books. It will show you where I was and where I’m going.
Enjoy,
Walt
PUBLISHED POEMS
My reluctant readers,
As promised, here is the first of my ancient published poems. This piece was published in The Clover Collection of Verse, 1976.
This poem has the distinction of being the only work for which I earned money. Not here, but published in another poetry periodical, someone liked the poem and sent me a dollar. Somewhere in our attic storage area, along with over twenty years of accumulated ‘stuff’ that dollar resides. It keeps company with a mound of rejection letters.
I hope you enjoy this effort of my ‘relative youth’.
THE WHEAT FIELD REVIELED
Friendless you toiled with palette and brush,
Forlorn amidst wheat fields with only mad rush
Of flying crows to mark the day,
Crossed paths unite yet yield no safe way,
Fulfillment pursued beneath sorrowful skies
Painting with troubled soul that once cries
Out for love yet finds only torment,
Thus your life spent.
Tramping through fields of cypress and corn
With stars and suns swirled in a morn,
Hatband-held candles yield flickering light
Sustaining your soul one last starry night,
Rooks swirled in violet a soul hungers still,
Standing alone – the wheat field revielded.
BIO
Greetings my reluctant readers. I thought some of you might want to learn a little more about me, then again, maybe some of you have had enough. JUST KIDDING!!
Walt Trizna, a scientist for thirty-four years, is now a full-time writer of horror and science fiction. He has published more than twenty stories, both online and in print. Early next year his first novel, New Moon Rising, will be published by Midnight Showcase. Currently, he is editing another novel, The Beast Awaits, a story where stem cell research goes horribly wrong and leads to a catastrophe of global proportions.
Walt lives in West Chester, PA with his wife, Joni. They have two grown daughters, Annie working in theater in NYC, and Lynn living in Pittsburgh and interested in ecology and urban farming.
