stuff I've written (two poems and a short story)
Irony Stew
How dare you think and act that way
Just look me in the eye
Don't tune me out, stop fidgeting
That's no reason anyone would cry
Just try to be more normal
As you journey through your day
That's right, I said be normal
Don't do things your strange, odd way
They tell me to behave like them
To fit in with the crew
They see no reason, see no rhyme
In anything I say or do
I'm told if I just work with them
I'd make more sense and that's a fact
I"d be their definition of
The way someone should feel and act
The irony's delicious
You could make an irony stew
For when they do and say these things
They think they're normal too
--------------------------------------------------------------------
There's a Dino In My Dishes
There’s a dino in my dishes
and I don’t know what to do
For it’s broken all the dishes
and I’m wondering just who
will believe I saw a dino
When there’s not a single zoo
that can find a living dinosaur to capture
There’s a dino in my dishes
and I’d ask you not to stare
No, I have not one idea
just how it got right there
And that bunny on my head
is only just some hare
after all most people have hair up there.
There’s a dino in my dishes.
and I do not understand
exactly what its whish is
or why it’s here on hand
It seems rather harmless
so perhaps I’ll let it stand
and trample all the dishes
while fulfilling all of its wishes
then maybe it will go home
and I can clean up all the dishes.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Table of the Gods
by J. Elizabeth Murphy
(Johnna to you Nindy geeks)
Something is wrong. I can sense it before I even awake. My eyes open to see the sun and I give hasty thanks to Great Utam for continuing to smile on my people. I rush out of my tent and to Fathers. He is Elder and Leader, but age has him on his deathbed. Giving thanks for his lifetime, I wait by his side for death to bring him to live with other Elders of our day. I pay respects as he peacefully rests. I do not stay by his side long, the waiting is more symbolic than actual. This is not his day, but it will arrive before the week is out. Others tend to him, and I must take his place as Elder for my people. I am Elder, and something is wrong.
I think of my brother, gone to the gods early by my own arrow. An errant shot run amok that totally missed the intended target. Human error is sometimes Nature’s way, and although I mourn the loss this is not the source of my trepidation. Danger is arriving, and after my brother’s death, I doubt my ability to take my place and defend.
I look over the plains and see signs of the shag-tusks. They are our friends and our sustenance, giving us the occasional member of their tribe to feed ours. It is good that they are here - their spirits bring peace, another gift of the gods. All around me, there is harmony between ground and sky, beast and the tribe. I see no discord, not even in my father on his journey. Yet something is wrong and as the day passes, the trouble only continues to near. I eat my dinner, nervously watching. I know what the danger may be, although I choose not to name it.
Suddenly, the ground shakes, a great rumbling that can only mean one thing. Claw-tooth attack and I am not ready. I am Una, Plains Princess. My father is Algen, elder of the tribe, the great chieftain who tamed the bird-lizards, naming one Gust and flying into victorious battle over invading claw-tooth. I was not meant to be chieftain. That place was to be taken by my brother, but he is with the gods now, and it is my fault. Now, I am to take his place and ride my own bird-lizard to gloriously defend the tribe. But I am not Algen, nor his son. Claw-tooth attack and Una is afraid.
The ground continues to rumble, people rush to get away from the impending doom. I run towards the bird-lizard barn. I enter the barn, and approach my bird-lizard, Glider, in its stall. It coos in recognition, affectionately turning its pointy, scaly head to the side so I can scratch its ridges. The ground shakes and Glider startles. As I grab a saddle, he senses my moods and now only warily lets me ready him for flight. His scissor-like mouth opens and closes nervously, and I have to duck its razor sharp edges.
Bursting out of the barn, everything is chaos. Glider and I take off in a great flight. People look on me with pride. “Una will will defeat the great claw-tooth!” I hear a villager call. I only wish I could say I did. From the great height, I see not one but two claw-tooth.. Their great heads bobbing. The sunlight reflecting off their green-brown scales. Stomping on their hind feet. The front arms, short and stubby, but still capable of snatching up one of us. Teeth as big as a child’s arm, ready to rip apart anyone in their way. They move surprisingly fast for their huge size, and they are STRONG.
Glider balks, pulling back. It is all I can do to stay on my mount. Then before another thing can happen, I pull him around and we are gone. We speed away from the village, from the rest of the tribe and away from duty. I am not Altan, or my brother, Toren. I am Una Plains Princess, and I have deserted my people, my duty left unfulfilled. I cannot do this, and it has already cost me my brother’s life.
So hasty is my flight that I don’t look where I am going until I hit the tree. I had flown Glider all the way to the wooded place where a tree branch swooped me off my mount, and hurtled me to the ground. A huge gash on my head spurts blood. I look up to see Ultam still shining on me, but my vision blurs. The world around me fades, and Ultam’s great lamp is going out.
As the world around me fades, it is replaced with a strange, white walled room. There are people at a table, all is blurry, but I can hear their voices.
“You can’t have that happen if you’re going to play this character. The warrior and protector of the tribe can’t just run away!” I look to the sound of this first voice and a figure sitting at the end of the table comes into focus. He is obviously in a position of high importance, separated from the others by a small barricade of honor. His pale face is framed by shining ringlets of gold sunrise. I fall to my knees, it is great Ultam Himself. I do not understand everything that has been said, but I already know he is displeased by my cowardly flight. Ultam doesn’t seem to notice my presence, but why should he bother? I am insignificant in his sight. It is clear my actions no longer have his blessing.
“It’s my character and she is afraid!” I am at a meeting table of the gods and they are debating my fate. The lesser god who has just spoken must be my defender and advocate with Ultam.
”Just last week, during the last T-rex attack, her incompetence killed her brother. She wasn’t raised to be leader, and now the T-Rex are attacking again. For pity’s sake, it was her errant shot that went astray and knocked her brother off his pteranodon. How could she not just run at the sight of another attack? She may think this all is Nature’s will, but that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t be in mourning. She wouldn’t want to have that happen again!”
Ultam speaks again. Although it is about me, I do not understand all of his words. “Look, last week was just bad die rolls. You can’t have a new character every time you roll a one. When Toren died, I said you could continue on by playing his sister and I’m beginning to regret it”
“Oh come on!” It is my defender again, if indeed that is what this little god was, “Characters can’t know about die rolls, give me a break! All she knows is that her father is dying, she killed her brother, and now she is being called to do something that she wasn’t raised to do!”
“Una, Mighty Plains Princess, riding her pteranodon AWAY from battle. I can see the movie potential already. Resolve this and let’s move on.”
I kneel there in utter disbelief. The lesser god is not my protector. He is not arguing for my cause or begging for the strength and aim I need to protect the tribe from the claw-tooth. Instead he is arguing I SHOULD be a coward and let my people die. It was Ultam himself saying things could be different. Who is this lesser god to tell Great Ultam what to do? More importantly, who am I to help prove the lesser god right?
More voices from other lesser gods. I do not understand what they are talking about, but I suspect it no longer has to do with me.
“Come on, get this T-Rex attack over with so we can get back to our characters too.”
“Yeah, I could care less about Scott wanting his character to have boobs now.”
“hey! I just thought for the sake of the story...”
“Yeah, sake of the story...."
Their conversation fades away as a bright light shines on me. I open my eyes to see Great Ultam shining in the sky even brighter than ever. Reaching up to my forehead, I feel my wound healed. The vision I had was more than just a dream. I really did see the meeting table of the gods. Great Ultam believes in me and I can carry on. A restless Glider is nearby, his great scissor mouth cutting at the ground impatiently. I smile at the sight of him and quickly hop on. I’m not sure how much time is actually elapsed, but I have a tribe to defend. As I rush off to victory, I know that Great Ultam again has smiled on another Elder. Once the tribe is safe and the claw-tooth is dead, I take my place as leader of the tribe."
“And that was how you learned the gods are not quite how we thought!” Una’s story is interrupted by a boy who is not quite a man, but almost. He smiles as he says his words, his voice respectful of the tale that he has obviously heard on more than one occasion.
“Yes, that is how.” Una replies with pride. Her hair is streaked with gray, but her eyes are full of life, her body still strong and straight. “And one day you shall be the one to take my place.”
“Or maybe me!” a younger boy speaks. He looks suspiciously like a smaller version of the first, maybe five years or so between them. “You weren’t expecting to be Elder and here you are.”
Una smiles at these, her sons. She is proud to have such strong, quick boys to lead when she is gone, even if there should be many years before that time.
“Yes, maybe you,” She reaches out and ruffles the younger one’s hair before again turning her words to both her sons. “But remember! No matter which of you becomes Elder, no matter what you do in life... Do not give into the pleadings of cowardly Skaat who opposes great Ultam. Live your life proud. Strong. Bright. Now come with me and I will teach you the secrets of the lizard-bird, for only from the air can the great claw-tooth be defeated.”
Una’s sons run off towards the barn, while she slowly follows. As the sun shines brightly over the barn’s roof, she can’t help but think that today everything is right.
How dare you think and act that way
Just look me in the eye
Don't tune me out, stop fidgeting
That's no reason anyone would cry
Just try to be more normal
As you journey through your day
That's right, I said be normal
Don't do things your strange, odd way
They tell me to behave like them
To fit in with the crew
They see no reason, see no rhyme
In anything I say or do
I'm told if I just work with them
I'd make more sense and that's a fact
I"d be their definition of
The way someone should feel and act
The irony's delicious
You could make an irony stew
For when they do and say these things
They think they're normal too
--------------------------------------------------------------------
There's a Dino In My Dishes
There’s a dino in my dishes
and I don’t know what to do
For it’s broken all the dishes
and I’m wondering just who
will believe I saw a dino
When there’s not a single zoo
that can find a living dinosaur to capture
There’s a dino in my dishes
and I’d ask you not to stare
No, I have not one idea
just how it got right there
And that bunny on my head
is only just some hare
after all most people have hair up there.
There’s a dino in my dishes.
and I do not understand
exactly what its whish is
or why it’s here on hand
It seems rather harmless
so perhaps I’ll let it stand
and trample all the dishes
while fulfilling all of its wishes
then maybe it will go home
and I can clean up all the dishes.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Table of the Gods
by J. Elizabeth Murphy
(Johnna to you Nindy geeks)
Something is wrong. I can sense it before I even awake. My eyes open to see the sun and I give hasty thanks to Great Utam for continuing to smile on my people. I rush out of my tent and to Fathers. He is Elder and Leader, but age has him on his deathbed. Giving thanks for his lifetime, I wait by his side for death to bring him to live with other Elders of our day. I pay respects as he peacefully rests. I do not stay by his side long, the waiting is more symbolic than actual. This is not his day, but it will arrive before the week is out. Others tend to him, and I must take his place as Elder for my people. I am Elder, and something is wrong.
I think of my brother, gone to the gods early by my own arrow. An errant shot run amok that totally missed the intended target. Human error is sometimes Nature’s way, and although I mourn the loss this is not the source of my trepidation. Danger is arriving, and after my brother’s death, I doubt my ability to take my place and defend.
I look over the plains and see signs of the shag-tusks. They are our friends and our sustenance, giving us the occasional member of their tribe to feed ours. It is good that they are here - their spirits bring peace, another gift of the gods. All around me, there is harmony between ground and sky, beast and the tribe. I see no discord, not even in my father on his journey. Yet something is wrong and as the day passes, the trouble only continues to near. I eat my dinner, nervously watching. I know what the danger may be, although I choose not to name it.
Suddenly, the ground shakes, a great rumbling that can only mean one thing. Claw-tooth attack and I am not ready. I am Una, Plains Princess. My father is Algen, elder of the tribe, the great chieftain who tamed the bird-lizards, naming one Gust and flying into victorious battle over invading claw-tooth. I was not meant to be chieftain. That place was to be taken by my brother, but he is with the gods now, and it is my fault. Now, I am to take his place and ride my own bird-lizard to gloriously defend the tribe. But I am not Algen, nor his son. Claw-tooth attack and Una is afraid.
The ground continues to rumble, people rush to get away from the impending doom. I run towards the bird-lizard barn. I enter the barn, and approach my bird-lizard, Glider, in its stall. It coos in recognition, affectionately turning its pointy, scaly head to the side so I can scratch its ridges. The ground shakes and Glider startles. As I grab a saddle, he senses my moods and now only warily lets me ready him for flight. His scissor-like mouth opens and closes nervously, and I have to duck its razor sharp edges.
Bursting out of the barn, everything is chaos. Glider and I take off in a great flight. People look on me with pride. “Una will will defeat the great claw-tooth!” I hear a villager call. I only wish I could say I did. From the great height, I see not one but two claw-tooth.. Their great heads bobbing. The sunlight reflecting off their green-brown scales. Stomping on their hind feet. The front arms, short and stubby, but still capable of snatching up one of us. Teeth as big as a child’s arm, ready to rip apart anyone in their way. They move surprisingly fast for their huge size, and they are STRONG.
Glider balks, pulling back. It is all I can do to stay on my mount. Then before another thing can happen, I pull him around and we are gone. We speed away from the village, from the rest of the tribe and away from duty. I am not Altan, or my brother, Toren. I am Una Plains Princess, and I have deserted my people, my duty left unfulfilled. I cannot do this, and it has already cost me my brother’s life.
So hasty is my flight that I don’t look where I am going until I hit the tree. I had flown Glider all the way to the wooded place where a tree branch swooped me off my mount, and hurtled me to the ground. A huge gash on my head spurts blood. I look up to see Ultam still shining on me, but my vision blurs. The world around me fades, and Ultam’s great lamp is going out.
As the world around me fades, it is replaced with a strange, white walled room. There are people at a table, all is blurry, but I can hear their voices.
“You can’t have that happen if you’re going to play this character. The warrior and protector of the tribe can’t just run away!” I look to the sound of this first voice and a figure sitting at the end of the table comes into focus. He is obviously in a position of high importance, separated from the others by a small barricade of honor. His pale face is framed by shining ringlets of gold sunrise. I fall to my knees, it is great Ultam Himself. I do not understand everything that has been said, but I already know he is displeased by my cowardly flight. Ultam doesn’t seem to notice my presence, but why should he bother? I am insignificant in his sight. It is clear my actions no longer have his blessing.
“It’s my character and she is afraid!” I am at a meeting table of the gods and they are debating my fate. The lesser god who has just spoken must be my defender and advocate with Ultam.
”Just last week, during the last T-rex attack, her incompetence killed her brother. She wasn’t raised to be leader, and now the T-Rex are attacking again. For pity’s sake, it was her errant shot that went astray and knocked her brother off his pteranodon. How could she not just run at the sight of another attack? She may think this all is Nature’s will, but that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t be in mourning. She wouldn’t want to have that happen again!”
Ultam speaks again. Although it is about me, I do not understand all of his words. “Look, last week was just bad die rolls. You can’t have a new character every time you roll a one. When Toren died, I said you could continue on by playing his sister and I’m beginning to regret it”
“Oh come on!” It is my defender again, if indeed that is what this little god was, “Characters can’t know about die rolls, give me a break! All she knows is that her father is dying, she killed her brother, and now she is being called to do something that she wasn’t raised to do!”
“Una, Mighty Plains Princess, riding her pteranodon AWAY from battle. I can see the movie potential already. Resolve this and let’s move on.”
I kneel there in utter disbelief. The lesser god is not my protector. He is not arguing for my cause or begging for the strength and aim I need to protect the tribe from the claw-tooth. Instead he is arguing I SHOULD be a coward and let my people die. It was Ultam himself saying things could be different. Who is this lesser god to tell Great Ultam what to do? More importantly, who am I to help prove the lesser god right?
More voices from other lesser gods. I do not understand what they are talking about, but I suspect it no longer has to do with me.
“Come on, get this T-Rex attack over with so we can get back to our characters too.”
“Yeah, I could care less about Scott wanting his character to have boobs now.”
“hey! I just thought for the sake of the story...”
“Yeah, sake of the story...."
Their conversation fades away as a bright light shines on me. I open my eyes to see Great Ultam shining in the sky even brighter than ever. Reaching up to my forehead, I feel my wound healed. The vision I had was more than just a dream. I really did see the meeting table of the gods. Great Ultam believes in me and I can carry on. A restless Glider is nearby, his great scissor mouth cutting at the ground impatiently. I smile at the sight of him and quickly hop on. I’m not sure how much time is actually elapsed, but I have a tribe to defend. As I rush off to victory, I know that Great Ultam again has smiled on another Elder. Once the tribe is safe and the claw-tooth is dead, I take my place as leader of the tribe."
“And that was how you learned the gods are not quite how we thought!” Una’s story is interrupted by a boy who is not quite a man, but almost. He smiles as he says his words, his voice respectful of the tale that he has obviously heard on more than one occasion.
“Yes, that is how.” Una replies with pride. Her hair is streaked with gray, but her eyes are full of life, her body still strong and straight. “And one day you shall be the one to take my place.”
“Or maybe me!” a younger boy speaks. He looks suspiciously like a smaller version of the first, maybe five years or so between them. “You weren’t expecting to be Elder and here you are.”
Una smiles at these, her sons. She is proud to have such strong, quick boys to lead when she is gone, even if there should be many years before that time.
“Yes, maybe you,” She reaches out and ruffles the younger one’s hair before again turning her words to both her sons. “But remember! No matter which of you becomes Elder, no matter what you do in life... Do not give into the pleadings of cowardly Skaat who opposes great Ultam. Live your life proud. Strong. Bright. Now come with me and I will teach you the secrets of the lizard-bird, for only from the air can the great claw-tooth be defeated.”
Una’s sons run off towards the barn, while she slowly follows. As the sun shines brightly over the barn’s roof, she can’t help but think that today everything is right.