Free Verse – Wrath – JG

Tin Foil Man

Even from afar, across the bar,
I can see the condescension
In your first impression;
In your surface assessment
Of someone in my profession.
I wasn’t aware; Am I supposed to care
What you think?
What I think?
Is that you stink
Of imagined superiority,
Mr. Born of the Majority.
Does a suit make a man?
Can it stand,
Tall and alone,
If you did not call it home? Continue reading “Free Verse – Wrath – JG”

Free Verse – Wrath – SD

Burning Soul VI

In a world full of hate, you only have what you can take.
Dancing with the pretenders, it leaves a sour taste.

They’re squelching my fire with the anger and the lies,
And I’m a smoldering ruin — a lone wolf howling at the moon. Continue reading “Free Verse – Wrath – SD”

July 22 Theme: A Taste of Vengeance

I think this week’s submissions for the theme of Sloth may have been my collective favorite yet. Even for a sin as seemingly straightforward as laziness, we found three interpretations and uses. Continue reading “July 22 Theme: A Taste of Vengeance”

Free Verse – Sloth – Marcy Erb


Of Vintage Commercials

An increasingly long time ago,
A commercial that ran
On the television of my childhood –
Of food being sloughed off china
Plates into garbage cans –
Warned us that 20 percent of the
World starved while 20 ate like
Kings. Continue reading “Free Verse – Sloth – Marcy Erb”

Linkin Park Hunts for a More Expansive Sound

Our music reviews seek to trace the narratives that weave between songs and albums. Check out our Rhythmic Fiction tag for other stories told through music.

Upon hearing the first single from Linkin Park’s sixth studio album, I was intrigued by the heavier sound. “Guilty All the Same” teased an album full of heartbeat rhythms, pounding distortion riffs, and the familiar wailing of lead vocalist Chester Bennington that were the early earmarks of the group.

However, this is not the Nu-Metal sound that Linkin Park became known for with 2000’s Hybrid Theory and 2003’s Meteora. The Hunting Party brings to us a heavier, alternative rock sound lacking  some of the hip-hop inspired sound effects and backdrops some LP fans may have expected. Continue reading “Linkin Park Hunts for a More Expansive Sound”

July 15 Theme: Apathetic Dejection

Welcome to week five of our Seven Deadly Sins series! Our foray into the theme of Envy produced what are probably three of the least similar interpretations yet. This week’s theme may inspire even more disparate submissions!

Continue reading “July 15 Theme: Apathetic Dejection”

Free Verse – Envy – SD

Burning Soul IV

This world is caving in, I don’t think I’ll last
Cretins surround me, trying to throw me off the path
And you’re no help, I don’t know what to think
When you tease and you pry, seducing me to sink Continue reading “Free Verse – Envy – SD”