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The Clarion Literary Supplement
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i /{i/\/ion sv/uj
The colors that bend, and sfxin our skies.
Amidst ueepv days, under angel's eves.
Hold in their grasp the goodness of life.
To rcncir our hope and defeat our strife.
The siniph' smile paints far prettier scenes
Then all the images of dusty dreams.
John Delaney
Photograph by Amy Raxter
He stared blankly at his. own reflection in the window, as the lonely
sound of the train whistle and the hypnotic rhythm of the steel wheels
against the track soothed the young man into complete oblivion. He
could no longer see the rolling hills and countryside
passing before him. He kept trying to convince himself to be happy-
after all he was going home. He would try to put up a front-he had
always been very good at that. No one coidd ever tell how he tndy fell.
Suddenly the man felt the glance of a small boy peering longingly
at the brightly colored display of medals on his drab uniform. He
instantly recognized the familiarity of the young boy’s expression.
He under stood the fascination that the medals played on the child, for
the young man had, also, once been disillusioned by the meaning of the
metallic ornaments. When the man was younger he used to dream at night
about becoming a hero. He was obsessed with the romantic idea of saving
millions of lives and everyone living happily ever after. Now he had
made his dream come true~he was a hero in every sense of the word,
and he ivas coming home where he would surely be greeted by cheering
crowds and many honors. He could picture it his mind. His family
would be there and they would be proud! He especially wanted to see the
proud expression of his father’s face~he had become what his father
wanted him to be. Yes, of course, he had to be happy, his father was.
he young man felt contented and. yes, happy. After all, he had
fulfilled his dream and at such a young age.
Suddenly, hou>ever, an uneasiness came upon the man as he noticed
the young boy’s admiring expression change to one of horror. The boy
/md finally noticed the price for which the man had obtained the medals.
I he medallions no longer placed a hypnotic trance on the boy, but instead
he only stared at the legless body of the man. The man turned away
, from the expression exhibited on the young boy’s face. He continued to
stare out the window.
Sandy Hulbert
ALITVM\ STORM
Your words
splash heavily upon my mind
Like early cold October rain
falling on my roof
at dusk.
The patterns change
like an autumn storm
From violently heavy
thundering sounds
To clear
soft steady
streams of expressions.
Through it all
I look at you
soaked in past fears and turmoil
Then patiently I watch
with you in the darkness
For the breaking of black clouds
that linger in your smile
that comes
in the light of new beginnings.
Michael McCormick
You open your eyes and the world turns to fire
as all of its moments now flicker, now bend,
only moving in concert: no reasons conspire;
to shape with intention the efforts we spend
in your holy, uncertain and well-abused name
but, blown brighter, we arc in an unadorned flame
of reaction, enkindled by all the black heat in your glance,
you approve, and the air becomes crisp as we try
to outdo one another in excellent heat
on your altar: this pleasence, this dream burned awry
IS dissolved and made new in the narrowing seat
of attention you frame these, our follies, within
while the minds of the Age sadly spin, sadly spin
and the floor disappears from beneath blazing feel as we dance.
David Drury-